


Linear Equations

by Sacryde



Series: Parallel Equations [1]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, will add tags later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 18:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21002351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sacryde/pseuds/Sacryde
Summary: Taemin was not the kind of boy to make friends for the sake of having friends; all he needed was his dance. So why did he suddenly find himself drawn to the boy a few seats behind him with the voice of an angel?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](https://oheiina.livejournal.com/tag/%2Amulti-chap%3Alinear%20equations) in June and July of 2010.
> 
> This is a prequel to [Parallel Lines](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21002084/chapters/49945601).
> 
> No edits have been made.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In his world, all that existed was his dance, and the music that let him flow and pop in ways that made him feel alive. In his world, there was no room for other people. It was always just him and his music, his dance, and he wouldn't really mind if it stayed that way forever."

Taemin was not the kind of boy to make friends for the sake of having friends. He didn't mind smiling at people and pretending to be interested in what they had to say, but when they invited him to hang out more or asked for his cell phone number, he always shook them off. Friends were something he didn't need. He appreciated the effort of course, but he was far too caught up in his dance to really put any effort into a friendship. In his world, all that existed was his dance, and the music that let him flow and pop in ways that made him feel alive. In his world, there was no room for other people. It was always just him and his music, his dance, and he wouldn't really mind if it stayed that way forever.

*********

Taemin was ungodly uncomfortable.

"Hey, did you guys hear about Minhyun and Sara?," Someone asked in a voice that was far too loud to be a whisper, despite the secretive way the person spoke, "They only started going out last week, but they've already kissed! I hear they even used _tongue_."

Taemin banged his head against the window, fingers pressing hard on the center button on his iPod, willing it with his mind to turn the fuck on already. His ears started ringing as someone squealed from the back of the bus, making him slam his head against the ugly leather seat in front of him, beating himself up for not remembering to charge his iPod that morning before he left for school.

"Yah, Yuuri! I heard the creep across the street from you got arrested for flashing someone!"

Taemin didn't know how much more he could take. Despite the music playing in his head, despite how hard he tried to focus his mind on the dance moves he'd created to that song, despite every last ditch effort made to ignore the loud chatter in the back of the bus, he could not find a way to block it out completely. Someone screamed like they'd just been jabbed hard in the side. Taemin sighed, turning his head to the side to scan the back rows of the bus, spotting someone jumping around all the way in the very back of the seats; apparently they really _had_ been jabbed in the side. He would have been happy to be right, if he wasn't so damn upset that he even knew what was going on.

Taemin grumbled, muttering something about ridiculous school children under his breath as he shifted his eyes around the bus, noticing for the first time exactly how many people were on it. He'd never really payed attention before, since he always had his eyes trained on his iPod and his mind focused on the moves to each dance that played. He had never really thought to take notice of the people around him, so he took the rare moment as a sign to remind him of how amazing his dance was and studied them with disinterested eyes. He noticed first the way they all seemed to squeal or laugh with excessive volume, but when he blocked their voices out, he started noticing other things - their facial expressions, their gestures, the way their emotions seemed to fly wildly from one to another within the space of a few seconds. He himself didn't really understand how to express his emotions through anything but a polite smile and his dance, so he found the way these people acted almost interesting. Almost, but he'd still rather be listening to his iPod with his feet shifting around on the ground to the beat.

_"Juliette~ I’ll give you my soul. Juliette~ Please accept me. Juliette~ Sweetly, a little more sweetly, whisper--_ goddamnit, what should I put there?"

Taemin blinked, his entire body tensing just slightly as that one voice started singing again, their voice a little rougher, a little sweeter, a little more soulful. Taemin's eyes darted around each of the bus seats, trying to find the source of that singing, a small choking noise resounding from his throat as he finally spotted the boy at the exact time he hit the high note, almost sending a shiver down Taemin's spine from the raw emotion filtered in that one sound. 

His eyes were large and round like a puppy. His cheekbones were high, his nose was sharp, and his jawline was strong. His ears slightly resembled those of elves, and his lips, the ones currently begging Juliette to come to him, were full and pouty. Taemin couldn't tear his eyes away.

He watched the boy as he sang the unfamiliar lyrics under his breath, his voice traveling through the aisle and straight to Taemin's ears. Every few lines, he would pause where he was and make a note of something he wanted to change or cross something out entirely. When he got stuck, he would pause completely and narrow his eyes, his jaw tensing as he chewed on his thumb until he figured something out. When he suddenly came up with a word or a line or a melody for a part, his eyes would light up like an 80 watt lightbulb and his lips would burst into a grin, his eyes crinkling at the sides even as he furiously wrote down whatever note he had to make. Taemin was fascinated.

"Lee Taemin!" Someone shouted from the front of the bus, making Taemin whip around to see the bus driver staring at him. He glanced around and noticed that he was at his house, his cheeks flushing a light pink color as he gathered his backpack, not even daring to look at the boy who he'd been staring at as he scrambled off the bus, his mind playing the serenade to Juliette over and over again.

*********

_"Juliette~ I’ll give you my soul. Juliette~ Please accept me. Juliette~ Sweetly, a little more sweetly, whisper my serenade._ THAT'S IT!"

Taemin ducked his head down, laughing at the stupid grin that appeared on the other boys face as he finally decided on what Juliette should be whispering. It had been a week since Taemin had first started listening to the boy sing, and he'd found out quite a bit. First, he'd learned that his name was Jonghyun, and he was in his first year of high school, which made him an entire 3 years older than Taemin. He always sat exactly four seats back on the left side of the bus, despite the fact that their seats weren't assigned, and he always carried around a blue water bottle in his backpack, probably in case his throat got dry. He'd also found out that he was a bit of a flirt - so much so that there were at least three girls (and possibly one boy) who had a crush on him. Every time Jonghyun would massage his lips with his tongue, particularly when he was trying to think of an exact word to use, the three girls would squeal like fangirls and the boy would blush ever so slightly. Taemin found it a little bit amusing; maybe to some, that small action would be considered hot and seductive, but to Taemin it looked like a mentally challenged dog trying to keep itself cool in the middle of summer.

Jonghyun got along with everyone he came across, it seemed. He was friends with everyone on the bus, the people walking past the windows would always stop to bang on the window where he sat and wave at him, and his cell phone went off with texts every five minutes or so, regardless of whether or not he answered them. Yes, Jonghyun was a popular boy, but even when the people in the back of the bus tried to get him to sit with them, even when his phone would go off, he always remained focused on his music and nothing else. 

Taemin found him fascinating, for reasons he couldn't entirely understand. Since he'd first heard Jonghyun singing his serenade to Juliette, he hadn't listened to his music even once, and he no longer created and perfected dances to the songs he'd heard a million times, instead letting his body shift and pop to the beat of Jonghyun's voice discreetly. He no longer ignored everyone on the bus, and instead took the time to study their reactions and emotions, even smiling widely at them when they looked at him. Something was changing inside of Taemin, and though he didn't quite understand what it was, he knew for sure that the cause of it was that rough, heavenly voice that never stopped singing from across the aisle, begging Juliette to listen to his love's serenade.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Despite the fact that he only knew a few lines to the song, and despite the fact that he'd never heard anything other than the lyrics and the melody, Taemin was determined to create an amazing dance to a song that had captured him from the word 'Juliette.'"

Arms raised into the air and fell, legs twisted and turned and kicked out gracefully, hips swung from side to side, and breathing increased rapidly as Taemin played the song in his head, his body moving to the beat he'd only heard a number of times. He didn't know how or why, but ever since he'd heard Jonghyun singing his song to Juliette, Taemin hadn't been able to stop dancing. Normally, his mind was far too preoccupied with creating dances to Michael Jackson and N.E.R.D. songs, but all of a sudden, this song, this serenade, had him dancing until the early hours of the morning, sometimes all the way until he had to get a shower and leave for school. Not long ago, he would have danced until he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep, but now he would push himself further, only taking small breaks before getting back up and starting again, perfecting the way his wrists followed his arms, the way his hips moved at a specific angle, the way his legs kicked out without bending his knees. Yes, despite the fact that he only knew a few lines to the song, and despite the fact that he'd never heard anything other than the lyrics and the melody, Taemin was determined to create an amazing dance to a song that had captured him from the word "Juliette."

*********

"Taeminnie! What happened to your arm?," A woman squealed as Taemin walked into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee. Another sleepless night to tack off his calender.

"Hmm?," he muttered almost an entire minute later, glancing down at his arm and shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly at the angry green and blue bruise taking up almost his entire elbow, "I guess I just hit the dresser while I was dancing. It'll heal in a week or something."

Taemin gathered a few ice cubes and some sugar, dumping them into a coffee mug before going over to the half-empty pot and filling his mug to the brim. He didn't notice the meaningful glance his parents shared as he reached for a spoon, mixing the ice, sugar, and coffee together. 

"Um, Taeminnie. About that..... how would you like to move to a bigger house? One with a basement you can use for your dancing?" Taemin's father asked, an easy smile on his face despite the way his hands were wringing together. Taemin blinked, taking a long drink of coffee and letting the idea roll around in his head before looking back at his father, a single eyebrow raised.

"Can we afford that?" he asked. Apparently that was both the right and the wrong question to ask, judging from the way his parents exchanged another glance before waving him over to sit with them. He walked cautiously, placing the coffee mug on the table as he sat down, eyes now alert and curious.

"You know how daddy's job has been asking me to take a pay cut for next year?," Taemin's dad asked. Taemin nodded, taking another sip of coffee, "I declined. I told them we just couldn't afford to live on that small amount of money, so starting next year I'll be working at a small, private institute in Incheon. It pays a lot more money, and I have a friend who's moving there over the summer, too. He volunteered to take us in, and we can even stay there permanently as long as we help pay the bills each month. They installed a huge soundproofed basement for their son because he likes to sing, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you dancing down there when he doesn't use it. They only have two extra rooms though, so your mother and I will take one and your brother will take the other, but they're all large enough that you can share a room with their youngest son. They're very good people, Taemin, so I'm sure--"

"Dad."

Taemin's dad stopped talking, sitting quietly as he waited for some kind of reaction. Taemin sighed, emptying his coffee mug as a way to allow more time for the information to sink in. His mind sifted through the talk about his dads job, through the information about the house and the basement and the room arrangements, until he reached the most crucial piece of knowledge in the jumbled mess of words. Incheon. They were moving to Incheon. 

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?," Taemin asked, watching the way his parents exchanged another look, both of them letting out a sigh at the same time.

"There's only a week of school left, and we wanted you to enjoy it as much as you possibly could without having to worry," Taemin's mom spoke, a soft smile on her face, "Besides, we're not going to move for another month or so. Your fathers friend will be the title-holder of the home, so they need to get there first and set everything up. We still have time."

Taemin sat there quietly for a long moment before glancing up at the clock and seeing that it would be only a few minutes before the bus arrived. "I have to go," he whispered, offering a weak smile to his parents as he left the room, backpack hanging loosely from his shoulder.

"Don't forget to pick your yearbook up today!," His mom called to him. Taemin nodded to let her know that he'd heard before rushing out the door, his mind a big, jumbled mess. He knew it wasn't their fault, that they were only looking out for what was best for their family, but they'd also raised Taemin to believe that you could accomplish anything if you worked hard enough. They could have survived with less money coming in, they didn't really have to move. But they were, and out of all the things Taemin was worried about - having to live with complete strangers, how long it was going to take him to pack, how much he was going to miss Seoul - one thing stuck out like a sore thumb. In one month, he would have to listen to some boy sing with a voice that wasn't rough and sweet and soulful, singing about something other than a girl named Juliette. And somehow, that knowledge made him shake where he stood, as if he'd just seen a premonition of the end of the world.

*********

_"Juliette~ I’ll give you my soul. Juliette~ Please accept me. Juliette~ Sweetly, a little more sweetly, whisper my serenade._  
Even without any words, I already know everything. Your eyes say-- SHIT!" Jonghyun screeched suddenly, raising the attention of almost everyone on the bus. Taemin ducked his head and smiled for the first time in a week. It was officially the last day of school, and yet nothing seemed to change. The people in the back were still screaming, the three girls and one boy were still ogling Jonghyun, and Jonghyun was still singing. Taemin let out a short sigh as he listened to the voices around him, only looking up when he heard one of the girls that always stared at Jonghyun sigh in an adoring way. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow before shifting his eyes back over to Jonghyun. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw was set in a stubborn line, and his tongue was pressing hard into his lower lip. He stayed like that for a few moments before he glanced up, his eyes automatically going to the small legion of fangirls that had surrounded him from the seat behind him.

Taemin blinked, watching as Jonghyun stared at them for a long moment, watching the way they seemed to squirm under his gaze, before Jonghyun finally grinned mischievously. "Your eyes say that you want me badly," he said, barely pausing to listen to them squeal with delight before he turned around to write the line down as quickly as possible. 

His pen didn't even get a chance to touch the paper before someone thwacked him hard upside the head with a book. Jonghyun let out a shriek of anger that made Taemin think of a banshee before turning around to effectively grab the book from the boy to return the favor, though he seemed to hit him much harder. The boy yelped with pain, grabbing the book back only to shove it at Jonghyun again, this time with a small marker, asking him to sign it. Taemin blinked, staring at the book for a long moment until he recognized it as a yearbook - the very same one he had shoved in his backpack last week and never looked at again. He watched as Jonghyun signed it, pen scribbling across the page hurriedly until he finished, shoving it at the other boy with a grin that lit up his entire face and made Taemin's insides clench. 

The bus came to a stop and before Taemin even had a chance to realize what he was doing, he'd gotten up and moved across the aisle until he sat in the seat in front of Jonghyun. The older boy noticed nothing as he went back to singing his song. Taemin glanced around nervously before nearly attacking his backpack in search of his yearbook, finally lifting it out just as Jonghyun let out a shriek of anger.

"WHAT WAS THAT GODDAMN LINE?!"

"Your eyes say that you want me badly," Taemin answered automatically, turning in his seat to face Jonghyun, who was looking at him with surprised eyes. Taemin felt himself freeze for a split second, his breath catching in his throat as those eyes, the ones he'd only ever seen looking at other people and the paper in front of them, locked onto him. The bus hit a speed bump, sending Taemin bouncing backward until his ass was almost on the ground where his feet should be, a loud squeak escaping his throat before he had time to stop it. He wormed his way back to where he'd been before, sitting on his knees facing Jonghyun, partially grateful for being sent back even if he was now blushing a million shades of red as Jonghyun looked at him curiously, because at least he wasn't staring like an adoring fanboy.

"I wasn't. The eyes thing. I wasn't saying that your eyes were saying that, that was the line that you came up with. 'Your eyes say that you want me badly.' You thought of it when your fanclub started screaming," Taemin muttered, hiding behind his hair, letting his eyes peek through the strands to watch as Jonghyun's face lit up into a grin. He uttered a 'thank you' before turning to his paper and writing it down quickly. 

Taemin glanced around the bus nervously, making sure that his fanclub was absorbed in some other conversation before waving his hand in front of Jonghyun's face to grab his attention. Jonghyun blinked up at him, looking at him with a blank expression, not really curious or angry or anything. Just staring. Taemin felt his face blush harder as he opened and closed his mouth a few times, finally giving up on speaking actual words and just shoving the yearbook toward Jonghyun, not daring to look at the other boy as he quietly asked for him to sign it.

A few seconds later, Taemin felt the yearbook being pulled from his hands. He let out a whoosh of breath, looking at Jonghyun who was now flipping through the pages with mild interest. "Where should I sign?"

"Anywhere," Taemin replied, a small smile of relief on his face. Jonghyun looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, which part has less signatures? The back or front? My writing is kind of fucking huge, so I don't want to take up the whole page."

"There's only three signatures, all near the back," Taemin said, blushing slightly as he realized how lame that probably sounded, "I'm not really good with people."

"Yeah, I noticed. You're that weirdo who always just sits there listening to your iPod, never talking to anyone," Jonghyun muttered, looking as if he wanted to say something else before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the yearbook. Taemin blinked, a little bit embarrassed that he'd been called a weirdo by the person he was asking to sign his yearbook. He leaned over the seat a little, trying to see what Jonghyun was writing, but as if the other boy had expected as much, his hand covered the words, hiding them from Taemin's sight. Taemin pouted, sitting back on his heels and resisting the urge to cross his arms over his chest, waiting for Jonghyun to finish.

"Here," Jonghyun said, handing the yearbook back to Taemin. Taemin started to open it in search of whatever Jonghyun had written, eyes darting around as he looked for it anxiously, "Maybe you should read it when you get inside, before the bus driver starts screaming at you again," Jonghyun muttered, making Taemin look up at him.

"Inside.... bus driver... what?" He asked, glancing around at his surroundings, only to find that the bus was parked in front of his house. He let out a sigh and nodded his head, standing up awkwardly as he walked to the door. His eyes glanced at Jonghyun as he left, his head starting to swim a little when he saw that Jonghyun was waving at him with a smile on his face. Taemin blinked three times, offering a weak smile to Jonghyun as stepped off the bus completely, his heart clenching tightly as the bus drove past him. He watched it disappear around the corner, hands shaking as he opened his yearbook the second the bus was gone. He scanned the pages nervously until he found Jonghyun's entry, his heart falling straight into his stomach as he fought to keep himself standing.

  
_Good luck in the future. I hope we can become the best of friends.  
-Kim Jonghyun._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Taemin wished he could be like that, so accepting of this whole situation, but he couldn't seem to relax. There was a tension in his shoulders that he'd never really experienced before, and he couldn't help but feel like there was something major he was leaving behind."

"Taemin! Why is this box so heavy?" 

"That's my cds!" Taemin yelled from down the hall towards his brother, who merely scoffed at him before carting the box into the small moving van they'd rented for the day.

"I don't know why you have more cds in your important boxes than clothes," Taemin's mother muttered as she stood in the doorway, watching as Taemin finished piling the last of his clothes into the box.

"Clothes can just be washed, mom. Cds are more important than that; there's nothing worse than wanting to listen to the one song you can't find," Taemin mumbled, folding the flaps of the box and grabbing it, walking toward the doorway and the truck waiting for them outside. He placed the box next to a floor lamp with a sigh, glancing around to look at the rest of his family. They all seemed to calm, so peaceful, so.. okay, with all of this. Taemin wished he could be like that, so accepting of this whole situation, but he couldn't seem to relax. There was a tension in his shoulders that he'd never really experienced before, and he couldn't help but feel like there was something major he was leaving behind.

"Come on, you can ride in the car with me," Taemin's brother grinned, grabbing Taemin by the shoulders and walking to the small Hyundai. "I promise not to blast my music too loud if you promise not to start dancing in the backseat."

"Deal," Taemin nodded, watching as his mother and father got into the moving truck, their hands locked together. He smiled as he watched them for a short moment, hopping into the car when they disappeared in the big white vehicle, exchanging a quick look with his brother.

"Look, I don't know why you're so nervous, but it'll be fine," Taemin's brother grinned in a way that wouldn't be comforting coming from anyone else. Taemin smiled back as his brother turned to face the front of the car, turning the ignition on easily. "Oh, and I hear they've got an older daughter. Thought that might interest you; you've always seemed like a bit of a noona-killer."

Taemin laughed, smacking his brother lightly upside the head before settling back into his seat and turning his iPod on. He put it on shuffle, letting himself relax as the sounds of Usher filled his ears, thinking to himself that if either of them were going to fall in love with the older daughter, it would be his brother; he'd always been a bit of a sucker for older women.

*********

Taemin was right. The second his brother laid eyes on the older daughter, he'd taken off, introducing himself with lightning fast words, taking anything she grabbed from the truck and claiming that girls shouldn't carry such heavy boxes. Taemin rolled his eyes, walking up to the truck and handing her a lamp, smiling at her just a little bit.

"Carry things that look light and he won't make such a fuss."

"Thanks, kid," She said before stalking into the house with the lamp in hand. Taemin blinked, watching her curiously for a second; her features seemed eerily familiar, especially the large puppy eyes and pouty lips. He shook it off a second later, grabbing a box of his cds and heading into the house where his family was standing around talking to the people who he assumed he was going to be living with after today.

"Ah, Taeminnie! This is--" Taemin tuned out his fathers words as he took his first real look at the house, his eyes going wide with shock. Holy fuck, it was big...

"I hope you don't mind sharing a room with our son," Someone spoke, catching Taemin's attention. He turned to the woman who was smiling softly at him, merely nodding his head just slightly, muttering that he didn't mind at all. "He can be a bit... troublesome, but maybe having someone closer to his age would be good for him."

"Now, now. Don't scare the boy," The man spoke, and Taemin guessed that he was the man of the household. "You can put your things in the room just upstairs and to the right; it's one of the larger rooms, we figured you would need it with two people living there and all."

"Thank you," Taemin muttered, offering a slightly awkward smile and a bow towards the man before making his way up the stairs, admittedly a little bit curious about what kind of person he would be living with from now on. 

The first thing he noticed when he entered the room, other than the two beds and the way one side was all fixed up and the other completely bare, was all the music in the room. There were posters of musicians everywhere on the fixed up side of the room, an acoustic guitar, two electric guitars, a bass hidden by the closet, and cds piled everywhere. Taemin briefly noted that the other persons music collection could easily rival his own before he set his box down on what he assumed was his bed, curiosity growing by the second. He stepped forward until he reached the dresser with the largest pile of cds, eyes widening just slightly when he saw how many different kinds of cds there were. There were some hip-hop cds that Taemin owned, some r&b, some rock, and even trot. Taemin blinked, picking up one of the cds he didn't recognize and checking out the back, blushing slightly when he realized that it was a soundtrack for porn music.

"My folks said you were a music fiend. Guess it's true."

Taemin froze, his entire body going on full alert. He wasn't afraid because he'd been caught rifling through someone else's things, he wasn't paralyzed because the cd he'd been looking at had been porn music. He was frozen, completely locked in place, because he knew that voice. He almost felt like slapping himself, because he knew logically there was no way in hell that the person standing behind him was the person he thought it was. Sure, he'd heard that voice so many times in his head over the last two months, ever since he'd first heard him sing about Juliette, but he couldn't be here. Right?

Slowly, slowly, Taemin turned around, his eyes locked to the ground. He first took in the clean white sneakers, then the jeans ripped partially at the knees, then the skull belt. He noticed the wristbands, the muscles, the t-shirt that looked old and ratty, until his eyes finally, finally made it further up. He saw the strong jawline, the pouty lips, the high cheekbones, and those large puppy eyes. He felt his breath catch in his throat, felt his face flush as his breathing stopped for a long moment until he reminded himself that he needed that oxygen to breathe. He inhaled sharply, biting on his lower lip as he saw that smirk, that smirk he always got when he teased his fangirls, that smirk that made him seem like he knew every little thing that you were thinking and would use it against you. This was the same man, the same one who always crooned to Juliette, the one Taemin thought he'd left behind in Seoul.

"Jonghyun..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...Jonghyun started, closing the lid on top and flipping the switch, turning to look at Taemin with a satisfied grin, like he'd just fixed the world. Taemin rolled his eyes."

"Why do you have a coffee pot in your room?" Taemin asked the next morning, watching from his bed as Jonghyun fiddled around with the machine easily.  
  
"Because, my folks hate it when I make coffee in the middle of the night near them, because the smell wakes them up or something, so they just bought me my own," Jonghyun started, closing the lid on top and flipping the switch, turning to look at Taemin with a satisfied grin, like he'd just fixed the world. Taemin rolled his eyes. "Besides, I like to make my own coffee and I don't want them stealing something I bought and made with my own money."  
  
"Yeah, the money they gave you as allowance," Taemin smirked, watching the way Jonghyun huffed and crossed his arms, a small chuckle escaping his lips. There was a part of him that almost missed the moments back in Seoul where he would just sit there, listening to Jonghyun trying to serenade Juliette. He missed being able to watch the other man from afar, never letting on to the way the soulful voice really affected him, and the way he'd been able to simply admire from afar without having to deal with an actual conversation.  
  
At the same time, though, he was starting to love this. He was finding things out about Jonghyun that he never would have found out otherwise; like the fact that he was a snarky little asshole, he never stopped making rude comments, and he didn't really get along with his father. He was finding out that Jonghyun had taught himself how to play bass, that he had composed songs before, that 'Juliette' was inspired by watching an old American film. Taemin was able to speak to him easily, without worrying about whether or not Jonghyun thought he was weird, because it didn't matter now. They were living together.  
  
"Now, before you make any more smartass remarks, try it," Jonghyun said, grinning as he handed Taemin a piping hot mug of coffee. Taemin blinked, taking it from him and staring down at the cup curiously. He had to admit, it smelled damn good.  
  
"I usually drink coffee with sugar and ice cubes, though," Taemin muttered, shifting uneasily as the hot mug warmed his hands.  
  
"Oh, don't be a baby. My coffee doesn't need sugar, and I set the temperature to a slightly lower one than normal," Jonghyun grinned, making himself a cup of coffee before going to sit on Taemin's bed next to him. Taemin thought to himself that invading someone elses' space bubble would be rude, if it was anyone else but Jonghyun; things that would seem rude if anyone else did them seemed almost natural with him.  
  
Taemin sighed, deciding to just give in for now and drink the damn coffee, knowing that he needed some in his system anyway if he was going to dance tonight _and_ deal with Jonghyun at the same time. He took a sip, letting his tongue register all the different flavors, his eyes going wide as he turned to stare at Jonghyun, who seemed to have expected that exact reaction.  
  
"It's fucking delicious."  
  
"I know," Jonghyun grinned, taking a drink from his own mug with a satisfied smirk playing along his lips. Taemin felt like pushing that smirk right off his lips, but as it was, he couldn't. He couldn't stop drinking the coffee, all the different scents and flavors blending together in an absolutely intoxicating way.  
  
Once Taemin finished his coffee, he put his coffee mug onto the desk next to his bed. He blinked at Jonghyun a few times, still unable to fully comprehend the idea that they were sitting there together, and that he wasn't practically pissing his pants with nerves.  
  
"So, the coffee. What brand is that?"  
  
"Brand?" Jonghyun asked, raising an eyebrow at Taemin. "I don't drink branded coffee, it's way too expensive and not nearly good enough. I buy the beans directly from an importer and roast and blend it myself."  
  
"You can blend coffee?" Taemin asked, eyes going slightly wide with surprise, "I mean, don't you have to use a special tool for that? Doesn't it cost a lot of money?"  
  
"The tools are cheap," Jonghyun grinned, shaking his head and going up to get more from the pot, holding it out for Taemin to get more. "I'll show you another time, okay? My parents said that we had to finish unpacking your shit before either of us can use the basement."  
  
"Shit, you're kidding me," Taemin groaned, looking around the room at all the boxes (half of which were just cds) and hanging his head. This was going to take forever.  
  
"I'll help," Jonghyun said, shrugging when Taemin looked at him suspiciously. "I just want to set up the basement already, and I can't do that until I get the key."  
  
"You could just steal it," Taemin mumbled, letting out a squeak of surprise when Jonghyun threw a pair of jeans at him. He pulled the fabric from his face, glaring at the older boy who was now grinning like the cat that ate the canary, already with his hands buried in a box of Taemin's stuff.  
  
"Fine! Just don't throw shit at me again," Taemin grumbled, shoving Jonghyun to the side in order to get to his clothes, a small smile playing along his lips at the way the other man laughed, the sound filling the silent room to the brim. There was something both comforting and disconcerting about that laugh, but Taemin wasn't exactly planning on delving too far into that train of thought, at least not yet. That could wait for another time.  
  


*********

  
  
"Hey, bro. I'm going out with some friends, let mom and dad know if they ask, okay?"  
  
"Sure thing," Jonghyun nodded, hugging his sister tightly before she left their room, closing the door shut behind her.  
  
Taemin looked up from his stack of cds, having been in the process of organizing them alphabetically, raising a curious eye at Jonghyun, who was now sighing and running a hand through his hair. Jonghyun looked up just then, grinning at Taemin before bouncing over to where he stood, almost knocking Taemin down in the process.  
  
Taemin glared at him, but Jonghyun seemed to pay it no mind as he inspected the cd collection, giving an approving 'hmm' and nod before going back over to the boxes, continuing to grab Taemin's clothes and fling them on the bed. Taemin sighed, going back to organizing his cds.  
  
"Did you notice how my folks pretty much gave us kids the entire upstairs?" Jonghyun asked suddenly. Taemin turned to look at him, blinking twice before shaking his head. "They gave your brother the room next to my sister's, and then we share this one. The other two bedrooms are downstairs."  
  
"So?" Taemin asked, rolling his eyes a little and turning back to the cds, secretly curious about where this little speech was headed.  
  
"Well, there are two reasons for that," Jonghyun started, sounding more like he was talking to himself out loud then to anyone in particular. Taemin gave a small hum, letting Jonghyun know that he was listening, just in case the older man actually wanted him to.  
  
"The first reason is, of course, to keep an eye on me," Jonghyun said, and Taemin could practically hear the grin that was filling up the entire lower half of his face. "They want to have some kind of control over me, so they make sure they can spot me easily if I try to go in the basement at night or sneak out of the house past curfew."  
  
"Do you ever sneak out?" Taemin asked curiously, turning around so that he was now facing Jonghyun, laughing when he saw that Jonghyun was now sprawled out on the floor staring up at the ceiling. Jonghyun merely threw a sock at him.  
  
"Sometimes, but it's not like I'm going to gang meetings or mugging people like they seem to think," Jonghyun said, grinning widely at Taemin who was now rolling his eyes. "It's not like being on the same floor as the exit's going to help them anything. I'm sly as a fox" Jonghyun sing-songed. Taemin smirked, having already realized that by now from the way Jonghyun skipped almost silently around the room.  
  
"And the second reason?" Taemin asked, raising a curious eyebrow. Jonghyun smirked, sitting up suddenly and staring at Taemin in a way that made Taemin feel slightly unnerved. He shifted his feet around anxiously, almost wishing that he hadn't even asked.  
  
"Sex."  
  
Taemin blinked three times, letting that information slowly sink into his mind, feeling his face flush a bright shade of red that only got darker by the second. Jonghyun let out a bark of laughter, kicking at Taemin's legs and laughing even harder when he fell with a squeak. Taemin glared hard, throwing the first thing he could reach at Jonghyun, his face flushing even darker when he realized that it was the soundtrack of porn music. He blushed, sitting with his back against the wall, arms wrapped around his knees, the pout on his face never leaving for a second. Jonghyun just kept laughing, rolling around on the ground, banging his fist on the ground for several minutes straight until he finally calmed down, sitting up to look at Taemin, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.  
  
"You're so innocent, man," Jonghyun cackled, reaching out to pinch Taemin's cheeks the way an old woman would. Taemin pouted, glaring at Jonghyun with all the anger he could muster, even though it honestly wasn't that much. Damn that Jonghyun and his infectious smile.  
  
"I'm not innocent," Taemin grumbled, kicking at Jonghyun weakly, his pout increasing when Jonghyun merely laughed.  
  
"Sure, kid. Sure," Jonghyun grinned, leaning forward with a raised eyebrow, that damn I-know-everything expression on his face again. "I'm going to bet that you've never had sex before," Taemin blushed. "That you've never kissed before," Taemin pouted. "That you've never had a girlfriend, or boyfriend if that's you're preference," Taemin glared. Jonghyun laughed, reaching out and mussing up Taemin's hair, laughing harder when Taemin squeaked. "I'll bet that you've never even liked anyone before. Hell, you probably don't even have a type."  
  
Taemin glared at Jonghyun again, kicking out his leg once more, this time with as much power as he could put behind it, letting out a satisfied grin at the howl of pain Jonghyun let out. He watched the way Jonghyun rolled from side to side with his knee clutched to his chest, his teeth gritted as he whined about how Taemin was so scrawny and he shouldn't have that much power.  
  
"I'm a dancer, remember?" Taemin grinned, laughing at the way Jonghyun just glared at him. "Anyway, what the hell does sex have to do with our parents giving us the upstairs?"  
  
Jonghyun stuck his tongue out at Taemin, turning around to run away, as if he expected Taemin to chase him down for the information. Taemin just blinked at him with a raised eyebrow, smirking when Jonghyun noticed that Taemin wasn't moving. Jonghyun pouted, and Taemin grinned triumphantly.  
  
"Well, you know how you can hear all kinds of noises coming from upstairs when you're directly below the room?" Jonghyun asked, plopping his ass down on the carpeted floor. Taemin blinked, thinking back to the times when his brother had brought girls back to the attic late at night, and how he'd heard many things he wished he hadn't. He nodded. "They're probably afraid that your brother and my sister will start something because they're so close in age, and they're probably assuming that I'll corrupt you into bringing home girls while we fuck them in our beds. Have you ever tried that, by the way? Having sex while someone else is doing the same thing on the other side of the room? It's a little weird at first but dude, it's so fucking hot after a while because it's like hearing an echo of your own pleasure and--"  
  
"Jonghyun."  
  
Jonghyun blinked, his eyes going a little bit wide as he grinned impishly. "Sorry, man. I forgot how innocent you are." Taemin kicked him again. "Goddamnit, stop that!"  
  
"Then stop calling me innocent," Taemin grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. It wasn't like he was _proud_ of being innocent, and having Jonghyun of all people remind him of it kind of really pissed him off.  
  
"Fine, fine," Jonghyun mumbled, rubbing his sore leg as he seemed to think of something else, "Now that I think about it, it works both ways too. So they probably just want to have sex again. Ew."  
  
Taemin blinked, staring at the oblivious Jonghyun for a long moment before falling back onto his bed, curling up into a little ball as he mentally beat the tar out of Jonghyun. He blocked out the whining from the other man, even reaching out and kicking him again as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to desperately get those images out of his brain.  
  
He would kill Jonghyun for that, one day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Taemin looked over again, glaring as he found himself more than slightly tempted to throw his damn alarm clock at Jonghyun's face, just so that both of them wouldn't be able to sleep. He decided against it though, realizing that if he woke Jonghyun up, there would be hell to pay, most likely in the form of having his hair shaved off the next night."

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock._

Taemin was officially beginning to hate the grandfather clock downstairs; it kept ticking and tocking, over and over again, in a steady rhythm that should have been soothing but instead just made his nerves stand on end. He leaned up on his elbows, staring at the digital clock on Jonghyun's side of the room, groaning and flopping back onto his bed almost angrily when he saw what time it was. 3:00AM. It was 3'oclock in the fucking morning, and Taemin was still laying there, completely awake, completely bored, and completely out of his fucking mind.

"Jwuuwiettttte~"

Taemin blinked, turning his eyes to stare at Jonghyun for probably the 700th time already that night, mentally noting that that was definitely the closest Jonghyun had come to actually saying 'Juliette' in his sleep. All the other times had just sounded like food or dinosaur names in a weird sing-song sleep voice.

Taemin rolled his own thoughts around in his head for a moment, slamming his head as hard as he could into the pillow, wondering how the hell anyone could come up with the phrase 'weird sing-song sleep voice'. He decided that unintentional sleep deprivation didn't exactly go well with him.

Jonghyun made another sound in his sleep, the sheets rustling as he moved around. Taemin looked over again, glaring as he found himself more than slightly tempted to throw his damn alarm clock at Jonghyun's face, just so that both of them wouldn't be able to sleep. He decided against it though, realizing that if he woke Jonghyun up, there would be hell to pay, most likely in the form of having his hair shaved off the next night. He sighed, turning onto his side and staring blankly across the room, letting the sound of Jonghyun breathing fill the empty spaces left by the grandfather clock.

_Tick, breathe, tock, breathe. Tick, breathe, tock, breathe._

Taemin smiled softly, his eyes watching the way Jonghyun's body moved with each breath, watching the way his eyelashes fluttered whenever he sang to Juliette in his sleep, the way his lips seemed to be quirked in a slight smirk even while he was unconscious. He felt comfortable like this, just laying in his bed and watching Jonghyun sleep, his face illuminated slightly by the moonlight. He felt comfortable letting his eyes graze over Jonghyun's features, over his entire being, without having to worry about being caught by Jonghyun or his fanclub or himself. He could just watch, without having to ever let anyone know.

He felt his chest constrict oddly, shifting his body around in hopes that it would go away, but it didn't. Taemin blinked, sitting up in bed and poking at his chest a little, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Was he getting sick or something? He'd never had this kind of problem before, though he'd heard of people who developed heart defects while in their teens.

"Drrroooooooowwwietteeee," Jonghyun sang in his odd sleeping voice. Taemin laughed lightly, flopping back into his bed with a grin. He heard Jonghyun snore the next few lines awkwardly, having to keep himself from giggling up a storm at the impromptu performance that sounded oddly like a dog howling. He didn't even notice the pain in his chest disappear as he lay there, listening to Jonghyun breathing again, this time with a smile playing on the edges of his lips until he finally, finally felt himself fall asleep.

*********

"You look like shit," Jonghyun announced as he practically pranced into the kitchen the next morning, looking all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Taemin just blinked at him and yawned, barely noticing that Jonghyun had stolen his bowl until Taemin reached down with a spoon to gather the cereal, only to come up empty. He glanced across the table, eying Jonghyun wearily as he munched happily on Taemin's bowl of lucky charms.

Taemin groaned, letting his head flop onto his arms. Even after he'd finally gotten to sleep, he'd only been able to rest for an hour before he woke up suddenly because of that goddamn clock, and he hadn't been able to fall back to sleep. He let his mind roll around a little, considering the thought of sleeping in the basement from now on, where at least it was sound-proofed.

"So, is there a reason you look like a zombie from one of those horror movies?" Jonghyun asked, glancing up at Taemin with a spoon still hanging out the side of his mouth. Taemin glared at him, picking up a soggy marshmallow from the bowl and tossing it at Jonghyun, who squealed much too loudly.

"It takes me a while to get used to a place," Taemin muttered, not willing to admit that he'd really just been kept awake by a stupid clock. In actuality, he was able to sleep almost anywhere he went; it was one of the things he prided himself on. 

Jonghyun 'hmm'ed to himself, looking Taemin up and down for a moment before nodding to himself as if he were satisfied with something. Taemin blinked, trying to muster the energy to raise a single eyebrow as Jonghyun flipped his cell phone open, his fingers texting someone at the speed of light, before he stood up with a grin, running over to where their parents' rooms were located.

"Ma, pa! I'm taking Taemin out with me!" Jonghyun shouted, and Taemin thought he heard some sounds of protest coming from that area of the house before Jonghyun ran back into the kitchen, grabbed him by the arm, and whisked him out the door. How Taemin managed to not trip over his own feet was beyond his comprehension.

*********

By the time they reached some fruity looking cafe, Taemin had gathered enough wits to ask Jonghyun what the hell they were doing, to which Jonghyun had merely replied with 'meeting a friend'. Taemin was confused, seeing as he was under the impression that he didn't _have_ any friends, but that didn't stop his curiosity from overruling him until he found himself shoved into a seat by none other than Jonghyun, who was grinning at him mischievously. Taemin raised an eyebrow; Jonghyun smirked.

When the waitress came around to ask if they wanted anything, Taemin immediately ordered their strongest coffee, ignoring the offended look Jonghyun sent his way as he ordered some weird fancy shit. Taemin sighed, wondering if Jonghyun was perhaps a princess in a past life.

"Yah, Minho! Over here!" Jonghyun shouted, making Taemin whine a little under his breath because of the sheer volume. It should be a law that no one was allowed to be that fucking _loud_ before everyone else had had their first cup of coffee.

"Why do you always ask to meet here?" Someone asked in a deep, low voice. "You know I hate coffee."

"Because it's perfect, and I love their coffee, and you love their smoothies," Jonghyun answered easily, smacking Taemin on the back twice. Taemin sighed, looking up to glare at Jonghyun, only to have his eyes meet with someone different altogether. In fact, he had to shift his eyes up quite a bit from where he'd estimated Jonghyun's height to be, his mouth gaping open at the man who was now standing there smiling at him, a hand outstretched.

Taemin blinked, shaking the man's hand (though he was sure it was his hand shaking, not theirs combined), watching as he sat down next to Jonghyun. Taemin stared, his mouth gaping open just a little as he took in the man in front of him with the fantastic smile, the absurd height, the low voice, and amazingly small face and those double lidded eyes. Taemin's thoughts were interrupted when the waitress came back with two cups of coffee and a smoothie, only to have his mind start racing again when Minho took a sip of his smoothie, his tongue darting out to lick the extra substance from his top lip.

Taemin stared for a long moment, drinking his coffee quietly as Jonghyun and Minho discussed.... something. (Taemin's mind was obviously too preoccupied to pay attention to the actual words.) He watched the way the man, Minho, smiled easily, the way he didn't speak much but when he did it was direct and to the point, watched the way his hands moved according to what he was saying. He noticed that Minho was dressed up in some kind of button-up shirt that looked fucking expensive, and suddenly he felt very, very out of place in his bright graphic t-shirt, jeans, and high-top sneakers, not to mention his bed hair. He noted briefly that Jonghyun's outfit wasn't much better, making it seem as if this Minho person was from an entirely different planet.

"Um," Taemin began before he even had time to process the fact that he was speaking. "Minho-sshi. Can I ask you a question?" Minho blinked quietly, nodding his head. Jonghyun looked at Taemin curiously, but Taemin barely noticed. "What are you doing hanging out with Jonghyun? Shouldn't you be with other ulzzangs?"

Minho blinked, shifting his eyes to Jonghyun for a split second before bursting out laughing. Taemin blinked, his mind finally catching up with his mouth as he realized what exactly he'd said. "I'm so--" he started, but Jonghyun kicked him from under the table, effectively shutting him up as he took in Jonghyun's expression, which honestly looked like a puppy who'd just been told that he smelled of wet dog. Taemin blinked, gaping as he stared at Minho and Jonghyun both, his mind reeling with complete and utter confusion.

*********

"I'm really sorry about earlier," Taemin mumbled, fiddling with his hands nervously.

"Don't be," Jonghyun replied, biting at the end of his pen as he stared at the paper in front of him. "You made Minho laugh so hard he complained of stomach cramps, which is honestly really fucking hard to do. You should be proud, kid."

Taemin sighed, knowing very well that Jonghyun wasn't okay with it, but not having the energy to argue his case any more. He grumbled nonsensical words under his breath as he walked over to the table, grabbing his energy drink and downing a good part of it with ease.

He and Jonghyun had locked themselves in the basement almost a half an hour ago, at least according to the clock which now read 12:00AM. Taemin groaned, looking over at Jonghyun again, pouting as he waited, still, for him to start singing. After another 5 minutes passed, Taemin gave up, going over to the stereo and popping in his favorite N.E.R.D. cd, figuring that he could at least brush up on one of his older dances. He waited for the music to start, a small smile gracing his lips as he closed his eyes, letting the music settle deep into his bones, feeling the bass surround him and flow into his muscles, letting it lead him into his dance.

_"Kay, whats this on your iPod, tell me what you listening to. Why you jumping bout his money, I ain't hear him mention you. I know this aggravates you, and it upsets you. But I can change you, I know how you hear me is this better. Yeah girl you like this, yeah this your language. Life is short in black and white,"_

"Just like little penguins."

Taemin whirled around mid-pop, his eyes flying wide as he very nearly fell on his ass. He blinked, steadying himself so that he could stare at Jonghyun who was now bobbing his head to the music, a big, stupid grin on his face. 

"For someone who claims to be a dancer, you sure as hell stumble easily," Jonghyun said, a sly smirk playing along the edge of his lips. Taemin glared, a faint blush darkening his cheeks as he looked around for something to throw at Jonghyun, only to see nothing except his cds, and he'd rather die than throw his cds. Jonghyun noticed this and laughed, that stupid grin of his only growing wider by the second.

"Yeah, well I'd like to see you do better," Taemin grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jonghyun giggled, wagging his finger at Taemin the way someone would wag their finger at a dog who's just tried to grab the bacon from the table. "Ah, but lad. I am a _singer~_ and we singers don't do that petty dance movement. 'Tis for peasants."

Taemin blinked, raising an eyebrow for a split second before kicking Jonghyun's leg with perfect aim, smirking at the way Jonghyun just so happened to shriek like a teenage girl. Taemin speaks that thought out loud, laughing when Jonghyun stumbled to his feet with a scream of rage that honestly sounded not half as threatening as it should have.

"Me~rong," Taemin grinned, sticking his tongue out and laughing happily when Jonghyun started chasing him around the room, only Taemin was running backwards, his tongue still out to make fun of Jonghyun. Jonghyun sprinted as best as he could, but Taemin just turned to run normally, easily evading Jonghyun. They continued this for a few minutes until Jonghyun finally fell onto the carpeted section of the basement, whining about how it was Taemin's fault because he kicked him. Taemin grinned, kicking Jonghyun lightly in the side to let him know he wasn't buying it, but he said nothing, merely standing above where Jonghyun lay, smiling.

"Yah, turn that off. It's my turn," Jonghyun muttered, a surprisingly soft smile playing along the edge of his lips. Taemin blinked, feeling some kind of choking feeling in his throat for some reason, nodding his head slowly before going to turn the music off. He glanced back at Jonghyun who was now laying calmly on the carpet, notebook in front of his face, seeming to contemplate which lines to use. Taemin sighed, walking over to the sofa and laying down, propping his head up with the small pillow as he stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell this weird tightening in his chest could mean.

_"Juliette~ I’ll give you my soul. Juliette~ Please accept me. Juliette~ Sweetly, a little more sweetly, whisper my serenade.  
Even without any words, I already know everything. Your eyes say that you want me badly. I can’t escape this habit of chasing after you, you spread like an irresistible poison. Yeah, my heart. Yeah baby, Juliette."_

"Well, that's new," Taemin muttered under his breath, listening as Jonghyun scratched out a few words and scribbled new ones, practically knowing the expression on his face by heart. He could picture it in his mind now, the eyebrows furrowed together, the stubborn line of his jaw, the way his tongue pressed into his lower lip.

"It's been a month since you heard me on the bus, Taeminnie," Jonghyun sing-songed. Taemin blinked, turning to look at Jonghyun with wide eyes, noticing the very satisfied smirk that currently graced Jonghyun's lips. "I've come up with more than that, you know. I just can't rap Minho's lines worth shit."

Taemin blinked, nodding his head slowly as Jonghyun turned back to his song, leaving Taemin alone to his thoughts. He blinked again, turning his eyes back to stare at the ceiling, his mind replaying the meeting with Minho earlier, wondering when exactly they'd become so close that Jonghyun would actually give him a part in his song; it _had_ only been a month since he'd moved here. Taemin closed his eyes as Jonghyun started up again, listening to him sing his sweet serenade for Juliette. He bit hard at his bottom lip as the tightening in his chest increased until it hurt, his mind flashing through images of Minho, moving clips of Jonghyun, and images of thousands of girls with no faces, knowing that any one of them could have easily been his Juliette, wondering why the hell it hurt so much to think of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "His heartbeat increased rapidly, his body froze completely, and his eyes flew open, only to see a block of white teeth grinning at him. It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn't being pressed down with fear, but with the weight of Jonghyun's ass."

Taemin woke up suddenly in the middle of the night as he felt his entire body being pressed down with fear. His heartbeat increased rapidly, his body froze completely, and his eyes flew open, only to see a block of white teeth grinning at him. It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn't being pressed down with fear, but with the weight of Jonghyun's ass. 

"Wake up, Taemminie~ and get dressed, we're going out."

Taemin blinked. He specifically remembered not going to sleep until well into the afternoon earlier that day, so it had to be late. He glanced over at the alarm clock on Jonghyun's side of the room, groaning as he saw the time. 23:00. Why the bloody fuck would anyone go out that late?

"Come on, kid. Throw these on and meet me downstairs in the kitchen," Jonghyun grinned, tossing what felt like a pair of jeans at Taemin, who didn't even bother trying to catch them, instead just letting them hit him in the face. Jonghyun giggled and left the room, shutting the door behind him quietly.

Taemin lay there for a long moment, remembering how last night they'd just stayed in the basement taking turns singing and dancing. He'd even been able to quietly practice the Juliette dance while Jonghyun had been singing with his back to Taemin. It had been amazing, finally being able to match the sound out loud with the dance, and he'd actually surprised himself with how well it matched the lyrics and rhythm. He wasn't sure if he should own it up to the fact that he was an amazing dancer, or that he'd replayed the song in his mind more times than was humanly sane. He liked to think it was the first option.

Taemin sighed, sitting up and cracking his back as he got out of bed, smelling the faint scent of coffee. He went over to the pot and found enough left in there for a full cup, a small smile gracing his lips as he poured it. He drank his coffee calmly, walking over to his bed where there was a red printed t-shirt laying on top of a pair of ripped jeans and a small pile of bracelets tied together by a silver necklace. Taemin blinked, raising his eyebrow at the ensemble before shrugging his shoulders, figuring it wouldn't hurt to just wear it.

He got dressed quietly, a little bit surprised by how well the clothes fit, before grabbing his mug of coffee and heading downstairs, his stomach rumbling the second he entered the kitchen. Jonghyun turned around with a silly grin and waved a wooden spoon at him. Taemin blinked, raising an eyebrow as Jonghyun seemed to look him up and down, nodding his head in approval with a small 'hmm.' 

Taemin opened his mouth to ask Jonghyun what the hell was going on, but Jonghyun quickly 'shh'ed him with a grin, placing a bowl of instant macaroni and cheese with green onions in front of him. Taemin heard his stomach grumble again, and smiled sheepishly before taking the spoon offered to him and digging in.

They ate together quietly, the silence so foreign to Taemin that he could practically feel it pressing in on him. Since he'd moved to this house, there hadn't been a moment where him and Jonghyun hadn't laughed or talked or fought, and this sudden stillness was unnerving him. It seemed like Jonghyun felt it too as he fidgeted around, his eyes darting around the house almost nervously as he tried to look anywhere but at Taemin.

Taemin sighed, finished his bowl of macaroni and cheese, drinking the rest of his coffee and going to place the dishes in the sink, being sure that they made no sound. Jonghyun finished shortly after, putting his bowl in the sink just as cautiously before grabbing Taemin's wrist and leading him to the front door. Taemin froze as he realized that Jonghyun intended to make him sneak out, his eyes widening as he looked left and right for his parents or Jonghyun's parents, a tight feeling of anxiety clenching his stomach. Jonghyun just smiled at him reassuringly, shoving a pair of high-tops at him before putting his own on, seeming completely relaxed. Taemin looked around the still house one more time, his breath held tight in his chest as he put his shoes on as quickly as he could. The second they were tied, Jonghyun grabbed him again and pushed him quietly out the front door, shutting it behind them without a sound. 

Neither of them spoke as they hopped the gate onto their street. Taemin let his mind sift through the possible places they could be going to, gulping audibly when he imagined a group of guys and motorcycles armed with baseball bats and knives. Jonghyun glanced at him and smiled, but Taemin didn't find it reassuring in the least. They hit the main street a few minutes later. Taemin glanced around, noticing the few looks they got as they walked down the street in their ripped clothing and accessories, briefly considering whether or not he'd be able to turn around and run back home.

"Relax," Jonghyun muttered. Taemin jumped, glancing over at Jonghyun, who didn't even glance at him as he looked at the street signs, navigating his way through the city. "We're not going anywhere too dangerous."

"Then where are we going?" Taemin asked stubbornly, unable to keep himself from pouting.

"Somewhere you'll love," Jonghyun said simply, turning around to grin at Taemin. Taemin sighed, wondering why he even bothered asking Jonghyun anything anymore. He ran a hand through his hair, choosing to stop questioning things for now and just take in his surroundings, in case he had to make a run for it or something.

The buildings were tall and dark, shadowed in the night like some kind of evil protector. The street lights were just bright enough to let you see where you were, though Taemin noticed uneasily that they kept getting dimmer and dimmer the further they walked. The people were a strange mix of hard-working people in suits who probably just got off work from doing overtime, drunk people out having fun, and a few people who really didn't seem like the kind of people you'd want to run into in the middle of the night. Taemin gulped as one of them looked right at him, reaching a hand out and grabbing Jonghyun's wrist. Jonghyun smirked, shifting his arm until he had him by the hand instead, their fingers slowly intertwining. Taemin blushed, feeling his heart start pounding in his chest as he stared at their hands. He didn't try to pull away, despite the way he stumbled on the cracks in the sidewalk every now and then because his mind was racing far too much to concentrate on anything as obsolete as walking.

"Almost there," Jonghyun whispered, shocking Taemin out of his train of thought. He glanced around curiously, noting the different 24 hours convenience stores, the clothing stores that were now bare and dark, and the people milling about, talking on their cell phones. He glanced at Jonghyun, who smiled and pointed to a sign at the far end of the street, its' letters glowing brightly in the dark. Taemin squinted, chewing his lower lip as he tried to read it, his eyes widening when they finally got close enough to make out each letter, his jaw dropping.

"We're going to a club!?" He screeched, staring at Jonghyun who was now rubbing his ear and grumbling something about brats being too loud nowadays.

"Yes. I'm friends with the guy on duty tonight," Jonghyun smirked. Taemin blinked, not even sure which part of that statement he wanted to pick apart first, but before he got the chance they arrived at the stairway leading downward, the guy hanging around in front of it standing imposingly with huge muscles and impossible height. Taemin gulped.

"Ah, if it isn't Jonghyun!" The man grinned, uncrossing his arms and pulling Jonghyun into a hug suddenly. Taemin squeaked, trying to let go of Jonghyun's hand so he wouldn't fall over, but Jonghyun just tightened his grip, not letting go. Taemin would have blushed if he wasn't preoccupied with trying not to fall on his face.

"I thought you'd never come back," The man whispered, a small smile playing along the edges of his lips, and somehow Taemin got the feeling that he wasn't supposed to hear that. He blushed, pulling his hand away from Jonghyun's and taking a few steps back, not really wanting to get in the middle of anything. Jonghyun pulled away from the man with a smile, whispering something that Taemin couldn't hear, the man's face lighting up when he heard whatever it was.

"This is my friend Taemin," Jonghyun grinned, pointing over to Taemin who flushed and lowered his eyes, not daring to look the other man directly in the face.

"He seems kind of innocent," The man spoke, looking Taemin up and down. "They'll eat him alive in there if you're not careful, Bling."

"Ya don't say," Jonghyun laughed, grabbing Taemin by the hand again, this time with a firmer grip. Taemin just looked back and forth between the two men, not completely understanding the conversation playing out in front of him. He briefly wondered if they were going into a club full of cannibals or vampires.

"Go on in, guys," The man said, grinning as he pulled the rope aside. "And Bling, don't touch the fucking alcohol this time or my boss is gonna kill me."

"Aye aye, captain!" Jonghyun grinned, laughing as he pulled Taemin down the stairs. Taemin glanced back at the man before turning to Jonghyun, his jaw setting itself into a stubborn line as he prepared himself to beat the living crap out of him. That flew out the window the second Jonghyun opened the door, the sound of music nearly knocking him back with the sheer force of it.

Taemin gaped as he stepped inside the club, barely noticing the door swinging shut behind him. The dark room was illuminated by blue and red lights, shifting and moving above the crowd in perfect harmony. On one wall there was a bar, on the other was a dj, and in the center of it all was a large group of people, moving and dancing to the beat of the music, which was thumping straight into Taemin's being, flowing through his body like fire. He felt his breath leave him, felt his heart stop as the music took over, completely taking over his every sense until all he knew was the music, and all he could do was dance. 

"Come on," Jonghyun whispered directly into his ear, taking his hand and leading him into the crowd of music, as if he knew exactly what Taemin was feeling. And maybe he did, Taemin mused, as he noticed the way Jonghyun's lips twitched and moved to the sound of the beat, as if he could barely hold back the urge to sing his soul to the world.

Taemin smiled, closing his eyes as he let the music take over him completely, his arms raised above his head, his chest moving from side to side, his knees bending and his feet thumping to the beat. He let himself go, let himself be led entirely by the beat of the music, his entire body moving and flowing and dancing in a way that he barely even knew was possible. There were people who had stopped to look at him, people who were checking him out as a potential mark, but he didn't know and he didn't care. All he cared about now was dancing, and the smile that refused to leave his lips.

His eyes opened slowly, his lids hooded and his pupils dark, the first thing to catch his eye being none other than Jonghyun, who was now staring at him with his mouth slightly agape. Taemin smirked languidly, reaching a hand out to Jonghyun, letting his fingers play along his shoulder, his arm, his fingers, until he'd pulled him forward to dance against him. They moved and flowed and danced, their bodies melding together in perfect harmony, nothing between them anymore but the fabric covering their bodies. 

Taemin smiled, wrapping his arms around Jonghyun's waist and tugging him impossibly close, his mind too caught up in the music to recognize the way his breath hitched, the way his entire being seems to be falling, spinning, drowning. He didn't notice the way Jonghyun smiled, the way his eyes pierced right through Taemin's heart, the way everyone else seemed to disappear around them. All Taemin knew in that moment was the music flowing through him like fire, and the feeling that he never wanted this moment to end.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "When he stayed in the basement all night singing, he just defended himself by saying that, as a future star, it was detrimental to his career that he practiced every chance he got."

Taemin was beginning to think that there was nothing Jonghyun couldn't get away with. When he stayed out late at night, his parents just turned a blind eye while his sister just smacked him upside the head with one of her paperback books. When he stayed in the basement all night singing, he just defended himself by saying that, as a future star, it was detrimental to his career that he practiced every chance he got. His mother would just sigh, his father would grumble something under his breath, and his sister would smack him upside the head with her book and say something about how a singer without a good vocabulary was merely a puppet singing other peoples' songs. That always made Jonghyun study his Korean books for a few days before giving up and going back to penning his own lyrics with his limited vocabulary. And when Jonghyun snuck out in the middle of the night, dragging Taemin to a club with him, and didn't come back until 7:00AM when everyone was downstairs eating breakfast, no one said a single word. Taemin's parents looked slightly worried, but the second Taemin opened his mouth and grinned at him, they just sighed and went back to eating their eggs. It was clear that Jonghyun more or less ran this house.

"I think our fathers were planning this whole moving thing for a long time," Jonghyun said as he stared at Taemin's alarm clock with a raised eyebrow, poking at the old contraption as if he'd never seen one before.

They were back up in their room, each of them sitting on their beds and kicking their legs around absent-mindedly, both of them too tired to go down to the basement but way too wired from the club to sleep just yet.

"It seemed kind of sudden to me," Taemin muttered, snatching his alarm clock from Jonghyun and putting it back on his bedside table, right next to his old garage sale lamp. He stared at it, the clocks face staring right back at him until he got a little creeped out and stuffed it in a drawer.

"That's because you don't know anything," Jonghyun grinned, just barely missing the baseball that had been aimed directly at his head, "I mean about my folks! There's no way in Hell my old man would have gotten that huge basement just for me. I mean, I may annoy the living shit out of him, but he doesn't want me to shut up _that_ much."

"Are you sure? Because you kind of never stop singing," Taemin smirked, sticking his tongue out and ducking to avoid the shirt that was thrown at him. "And I mean, your dad seems like one of those super serious study types. He probably can't concentrate with you always whining about some Juliette girl."

"I do not whine!" Jonghyun screeched, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting in a way that greatly contrasted with his ripped jeans and trucker hat.

"You do so," Taemin grinned, reaching his leg out to kick Jonghyun, only to pout when he realized that he wasn't tall enough to reach. "And really, if it was me, I'd stop trying to croon the girl and just ask her out."

"But that wouldn't make for a very good song," Jonghyun muttered, reaching his legs out to kick Taemin's feet away.

"Sure it would," Taemin grinned, grabbing the ankle of Jonghyun's left leg with both of his feet, tugging at it until Jonghyun fell to the floor on his ass with a shriek. "No one wants to hear shit about 'Oh, I love you, please give me the fucking time of day.' They want to hear about 'Oh, hey, I love you, now I'm going to kiss you and you're going to fucking love it.' It's more inspirational."

"Inspirational," Jonghyun muttered, raising an eyebrow at Taemin quietly. "So you're telling me that if you were in love with someone, so bad that you would die to be with them, you'd just kiss them and that would be that? You wouldn't try to make sure they loved you before you made a move?"

Taemin blinked, tilting his head to the side as he thought about it for a long moment, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. But I don't think that someone's feelings would change so easily with just a song."

"Sure, they could. If I was the one singing it," Jonghyun smirked. Taemin rolled his eyes, smacking Jonghyun on the shoulder with his foot.

"Even you and your self-proclaimed amazing voice couldn't woo someone who didn't want you," Taemin smirked. "Besides, I have a theory about all of that."

"Oh? Do tell," Jonghyun sing-songed, though it was much more sing-y than it would have been had anyone else said it, as if he were trying to prove a point.

"Why, you gonna use it for another song?" Taemin asked, grinning. He watched the way Jonghyun smirked in that annoying all-knowing way of his, throwing a pillow at him just for good measure, giggling when it hit him smack in the face. "I think that from the beginning, people know what kind of feelings they're capable of having towards another person. Love, hate, indifference, we already know what direction our feelings are capable of going in. It's just a matter of whether or not you choose to make something of it."

"So if Juliette didn't give a flying fuck about me from the beginning, there's no way I'd be able to woo her with a song. Is that what you're saying?"

"Basically," Taemin smiled, tilting his head to the side as he took in Jonghyun's thoughtful expression.

"So. Which of those three feelings do you have towards me?" Jonghyun asked as he looked up, eyes staring straight at Taemin. Taemin gulped, his eyes darting around nervously for a moment. He himself wasn't sure which of the three it was, but somehow he got the feeling that 'admiration' didn't exactly fit into the hate or indifference categories. He gulped, forcing a grin onto his face.

"Hate, of course," Taemin smirked throwing the first thing his hand reached at Jonghyun as an attempt to distract him from the way Taemin's voice shook just slightly. 

"Be careful with that!" Jonghyun screeched, jumping into the air to catch the plastic case. Taemin noticed that, somehow, he'd thrown the soundtrack of porn music. "I need that!"

Taemin raised an eyebrow cautiously, not sure he wanted to know what exactly Jonghyun needed porn music for, his cheeks flushing a bright red. Jonghyun fluttered around the room, putting things back where they'd been before they started throwing shit, seeming to have completely forgotten Taemin was even there. Taemin sighed, flopping back onto the bed, his eyes closing the second he hit the pillow. Sleep. Sleep was good.

*********

_Slam._

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey!" 

Taemin groaned, rubbing his eyes as he kicked his feet around until he'd effectively knocked Jonghyun off the bed, the older man letting out a sound of protest as he fell to the floor. Taemin smiled sleepily, letting out a yawn as he sat up, having to blink about 7 times to register Jonghyun's face staring at him, all kinds of awake and excited about something. Taemin glanced around the room, a slight frown lining his features as he noticed something off.

"Where's the eggs and bacon?"

"I didn't make any," Jonghyun replied, blinking at Taemin, who blinked back for a minute before the words registered.

"But you said eggs and bacey when you jumped on me."

"It's an expression. Haven't you ever heard it before?"

Taemin blinked at Jonghyun, who was now sitting on the floor next to his bed, blinking up at him like a puppy asking to be fed. Taemin let that analogy roll around in his head, his stomach grumbling in hunger as he thought of it, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

"Go die in a fire," He grumbled, flipping onto his stomach and pressing his face into the pillow with every intention of going back to sleep.

"But Taaaeeemmiiiiinniiiiieeeeeee! We've got to go meet Minho!"

Taemin blinked, or would have if his eyes weren't already closed, his mind sluggishly calling up the name. It took him a minute to remember who exactly Minho was, before remembering the guy who they met at a cafe, the one who should have been an ulzzang. Taemin groaned.

"He's your friend, not mine," Taemin grumbled, burying his face further into the pillow, hoping that it'd curl around the side of his head and block his ears from the incessant whining coming from the floor.

"But he told me to bring youuu. And I can't go against Minho! He'll kill me!"

"You're a big, tough man, Jonghyun. You can handle it," Taemin mumbled, sighing as he finally gave up on sleep, turning his face to look at Jonghyun. This seemed to make the older man happy, as he noticeably perked up where he sat, a huge grin taking over his lips.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" 

"No."

"Fine. I'll just read this diary you write in every night," Jonghyun sing-songed, pulling out a red spiral notebook from behind his back, a mischievous grin lining his lips. Taemin blinked, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth as he recognized the notebook. It was the notebook he always wrote his dances down in, with weird little notes about the way each line should be represented, which movements should be emphasized, and which should be ways to lead into the next. He blinked, wondering how Jonghyun got it for a split second before it registered in his mind. Jonghyun was going to read it. He was going to read the book, with his lyrics written down, with the dance to his song jotted down and crossed out for pages on end. He was going to see with his own eyes the one thing Taemin hadn't wanted him to find out about.

"No!" Taemin yelled, scrambling out of bed, his feet getting caught on the covers and making him trip, falling face first onto Jonghyun, who let out an 'oof' of surprise. "You can't read that!"

"Oh? And why not?" Jonghyun cackled, starting to open the pages, even as Taemin scrambled on him, reaching for the book. "Are there love letters in here or something?"

"That's none of your," Taemin started, squealing as he fell onto the floor. "fucking business."

"I bet there's a love letter to Minho in here," Jonghyun grinned, holding the notebook as high as he could, opening the first page and reading from it. "I know... some times? I can... be? WHY IS THIS IN ENGLISH??"

"None of your business," Taemin growled, jumping up and tackling Jonghyun to the ground, grabbing the notebook in the process. Jonghyun let out a squeak as he fell back, his back landing against his bed, which Taemin mentally noted was mighty convenient. He grinned, tossing the notebook behind him and underneath his bed, sticking his tongue out at Jonghyun with a grin. Jonghyun merely looked at him, just staring at him for a long moment before a smirk found it's way on his lips.

"You little twerp, you should respect your elders," Jonghyun said, his eyes narrowing in a playful yet dangerous way. Taemin gulped, his stomach clenching before he reached out to push Jonghyun on the side, a grin on his lips despite the tension in the rest of his body.

Jonghyun smirked, grabbing Taemin by the wrist and shoving him backward. Taemin squeaked as he fell on his back, pulling his arm from Jonghyun's grasp. He muttered under his breath about crazy raptors, his eyes going wide when Jonghyun crawled on top of him, eyes dark and serious. Taemin gulped, shifting his eyes around as if Jonghyun meant to look at something else, the birds in his stomach fluttering their wings wildly. He looked back at Jonghyun, his breath hitching a little when he saw that Jonghyun hadn't looked elsewhere, but was instead studying Taemin's reactions intently. 

Taemin felt his stomach clench into hard knots, his breath coming out heavy and shaky as he tried and failed to tear his eyes away from the man staring him directly in the eyes. Something shifted between them, and the second Taemin glanced to the side nervously, Jonghyun grabbed him by the chin, forcing his eyes back to their original mark. Jonghyun smiled just slightly, Taemin's eyes immediately flying down at that small action, his tongue automatically darting out to wet his own lips, feeling the way his breathing came out shaky and clipped, in an almost painful way. 

Jonghyun whispered something under his breath, but Taemin couldn't bring himself to recognize the words as Jonghyun leaned closer, until their lips were just barely, barely touching. Taemin's breath hitched and his mind spun as Jonghyun pressed closer, closer, but not nearly close enough. Taemin reached up, grabbing Jonghyun by the back of the neck and pulling him in tighter, pressing his lips harder as he felt his the knots in his stomach loosen and the birds fluttering around there fly free, as if this was exactly what he wanted all along.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Taemin ducked his head, staring at his weird smoothie drink as he tried to focus his attention on anything but Minho. He was already having issues trying not to stare at Jonghyun with his mouth hanging open, and he didn't need anything else to make him look like he'd just gotten out of shock therapy."

There was something about Choi Minho that was downright unnerving. Taemin couldn't put his finger on it, but the taller man had an air around him that could make even the dullest person squirm nervously, could turn even the coldest eyes into those of a shining fangirls. Maybe it was his height. Maybe it was his voice, or his eyes, or that goddamn smile. Taemin had no idea which of those things made Minho so awkward to be around, but he wanted it to stop. Now.

"Next time, I'll bring him along," Minho spoke, a little twist at the end of his lips as he turned his attention to Taemin, his little half-smile branching out into a bright grin. Taemin ducked his head, staring at his weird smoothie drink as he tried to focus his attention on anything but Minho. He was already having issues trying not to stare at Jonghyun with his mouth hanging open, and he didn't need anything else to make him look like he'd just gotten out of shock therapy.

"Sounds good to me," Jonghyun said, and Taemin could practically hear the grin on his lips at the prospect of having another person in their little motley crew telling him how good his songs were. Taemin smiled to himself, kind of wishing that whoever Minho brought next time would be smart enough to not inflate Jonghyun's ego any further.

"Taemin, are you okay?"

Taemin looked up, blinking at Minho for a long moment before nodding his head rapidly. Minho merely smiled at him as if he didn't quite believe him, but Jonghyun was looking at him curiously. Taemin ducked his head, avoiding his eyes almost desperately, even as he felt Jonghyun try to gain his attention through sheer willpower. He bit hard on his lower lip, not noticing the way Jonghyun started to look almost frustrated. 

"I'll be right back," Jonghyun muttered, grabbing his flavored coffee and heading to the counter, obviously intent on getting a re-fill. He might've been complaining about how it wasn't good and how he wanted a refund, Taemin amended in his head, knowing that Jonghyun was a bit of a diva when it came to things he was good at. Like coffee. And kissing.

Taemin blinked, blushing furiously as he remembered the night before, ducking his head down so far his nose just barely missed the table. He replayed the kiss in his mind, recalled the way Jonghyun's lips had melded perfectly against his own, the way his teeth had teased his bottom lip, the way their hands had roamed delicately over each others' t-shirts, as if they were both afraid of breaking whatever it was they were building, until they'd settled for linking their hands together, their foreheads pressed together when they finally ran out of breath.

"You're redder than a tomato," Minho noted quietly, making Taemin jump with a squeak, having forgotten where he was. His face only turned a darker shade of red as he noticed Jonghyun looking over at them, biting hard on his bottom lip and shifting his eyes to the other side of the room. "You like him, don't you?"

Taemin jumped again, this time so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. He let out a shriek, grabbing onto the table and immediately planting his face onto the wooden surface as he felt his face rise a couple of temperatures, no doubt turning the color of a fire engine right now. 

"Is it obvious?" He asked cautiously, lifting his face just enough so that his eyes could peak out at Minho, who merely smiled at him and nodded. Taemin groaned, slamming his head against the table, letting out a squeak as the smoothie jumped, splattering a few drops into his hair. "Not. Fucking. Cool," he grumbled, grabbing a napkin and trying to figure out where the smoothie had spilled.

"Here," Minho said quietly, grabbing the napkin from Taemin's hand and navigating his hair, making sure to get the smoothie out. Taemin blushed harder at this entire situation, mumbling a small thank you, and kind of wishing he could just crawl into a hole and hide for the next hour. Or just teleport out of here and take a damn shower instead of having to rely on Minho to get the shit out.

"Apparently not liking the coffee isn't a valid excuse for a refund if you drink the whole thing," Jonghyun announced as he returned to the table, his eyes looking pointedly at the wall, a deep scowl on his lips. Taemin blinked, lifting his head from the table to look at him curiously, his head tilted a little to the side. He knew that Jonghyun always got a little testy when he didn't get what he wanted, but normally not to the point where he didn't make a joke out of it. 

"Are you--"

"Let's go to karaoke already," Jonghyun mumbled, effectively cutting Taemin off. Taemin blinked, wondering what had caused Jonghyun's sudden shift in attitude, looking at Minho to see if he had any idea. Minho shrugged his shoulders discreetly, shaking his head a little to show that he didn't know what was going on.

"Taemin, are you coming to karaoke with us?" Minho asked, shifting his eyes to Jonghyun to see his reaction while Taemin did the exact same thing. Jonghyun didn't move, didn't make a sound of consent nor a sound of protest. Taemin frowned, running the idea through his mind for a moment before nodding, figuring that he could ask Jonghyun about what was going on when they got there.

"I'm coming," He said calmly as he stood up, pretending that he wasn't worried, pretending that he wasn't nervous, and pretending that he didn't have fucking smoothie juice in his hair.

*********

"I say we get the suite room," Jonghyun said, a grin on his face as he stood at the counter, waiting for Minho and Taemin to agree with him.

"It's unnecessary," Minho said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "The mics work just the same in all the rooms, and it's not like we're celebrities."

"Yet," Jonghyun amended, smirking a little. "But it's so much cooler, and you get a wider range of songs and drinks and a better screen to see the lyrics."

"But we're here to sing, not drink soda and sing barely-known trot songs, Jonghyun. And you know the lyrics to every song imaginable, the bigger screen won't matter," Minho replied easily, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. They stared off for a long moment, the air tensing around them, making Taemin squirm a little bit under the intensity. 

"What do you think?" Jonghyun asked, looking pointedly at Taemin. Taemin blinked, looking around to see if he was really the one being asked, gulping a little as he noticed the way Jonghyun's eyes were narrowed in on him like a hawk. Like he was expecting something.

"I think... a normal room would be better," Taemin mumbled uncertainly, shifting his eyes to the ground. He knew that they would probably be splitting the cost of the room into three, and he also knew that he didn't have enough money to help with the suite room. Jonghyun's eyes narrowed further for a split second before he turned to the girl at the counter, flashing a huge smile at her. Taemin watched as the girl blushed, his eyes flitting back to Jonghyun's smiling face, wondering idly why that smile wasn't for him. He felt a pang jolt through his chest, his teeth gritting together as he felt his skin grow a little colder. What had he done to deserve that glare, when Jonghyun was still capable of smiling like that?

"I can upgrade you," The girl behind the counter spoke, a blush rising on her cheeks as she looked at Jonghyun, a familiar twinkle in her eyes. "We're not busy right now, and my boss isn't here to make sure I follow the rules."

"Oh?" Jonghyun quipped, grinning at her. Taemin saw the way her eyes sparkled, saw the way she fluttered her eyelashes and pouted her lips. He frowned, his eyes narrowing just slightly before he glanced over at Minho, who merely shrugged at him. "Thank you, then."

Jonghyun took the key from her, their fingers brushing lightly as he did so, a smirk on his lips. Taemin bit hard on the inside of his lip, his eyes dark and hooded. Jonghyun grinned at them for a brief second before turning around and heading up the stairs, a certain gait to his walk that hadn't been there before. Taemin frowned, following him silently, his mind spinning so fast he couldn't even separate one thought from another.

They entered the karaoke room, at the top of the stairs a few moments later, Taemin's eyes widening a little as he scanned the room, wondering who the hell would need that many plush couches. His eyes took in the disco lights near the ceiling, the huge flatscreen TV, the fridge that probably had an odd assortment of drinks for their convenience, and the huge antique table located in the middle of the room. He'd only been to karaoke once before, for his 13th birthday with his parents, and it hadn't been nearly as lavish as this, despite the fact that it'd been back in Seoul. 

"We should start with some trot songs, to loosen our vocals," Jonghyun mumbled as he messed with the shiny microphone in his hands, looking up at Minho. Minho nodded, grabbing one of the other mics and flipping it on, not bothering to check if it worked the way Jonghyun did.

"What should I--"

"You can watch," Jonghyun replied easily, cutting Taemin off yet again. Taemin pouted, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Jonghyun for a long moment, waiting for him to start laughing at his childish reaction, or make fun of his singing voice, or something equally rude and Jonghyun-like. Instead, he remained silent, fiddling with his microphone some more and acting as if Taemin wasn't even there. 

Taemin grumbled something about stupid puppy raptors under his breath, lifting his leg to effectively kick Jonghyun in the ass, pausing his motions when he saw Minho out of the corner of his eye, shaking his head as if to say that now really wasn't the best time. Taemin sighed, flopping back onto one of the couches, his arms crossed over his chest stubbornly as he watched Jonghyun flit around the room, making sure everything was perfect.

Again, Taemin found himself wondering what he'd done to deserve this half-assed silent treatment from Jonghyun. Obviously Jonghyun wasn't just pissed at the world, because he was still talking with Minho normally, and he hadn't flipped a lid on that girl downstairs. No, it was Taemin specifically that he was mad at, but Taemin couldn't think of a single thing he'd done wrong.

He sighed, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge as he watched Minho and Jonghyun discuss the song choices for a moment before deciding on some random trot song. They started up slowly, and Taemin felt his breath catch in his throat a little. Jonghyun's rough, soulful voice combined with Minho's deep, pure voice was something so dynamic that it shook him to the very core, his eyes widening as he stared at their backs, his jaw varying between being clenched shut and gaping open. When they finished the song, they huddled together and decided on another, this time picking something a little more energetic and upbeat. Taemin watched them intently, until the door creaked open to reveal the girl from downstairs. 

"Jonghyun-ssi, we need to discuss your.. payment," The girl spoke, her lips turned up mischievously as she eyed him like a hawk would eye a mouse. Taemin froze, his eyes darting instantly to where Jonghyun stood, the microphone down at his side. He nodded, smirking a little as he handed the mic over to Minho before following the girl out of the room, his hand touching her back just slightly.

Taemin froze. Did Jonghyun really just.....?

Minho mumbled something under his breath that vaguely sounded like the word 'whore' as he placed the mics down with a sigh and headed over to the couches. He sat beside Taemin, who didn't even register his presence, his eyes rooted to the door as he waited, waited for Jonghyun to come back. 

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, kid," Minho muttered. Taemin blinked once, twice, three times before turning his head slowly, to look over at Minho who was sipping from a bottle of water calmly. 

"What?"

"I said, you shouldn't get your hopes up," Minho said again, looking Taemin directly in the eyes. Taemin felt his breath hitch a little at the meaningful look in Minho's expression. "Jonghyun is a great guy in his own way, but he's also a bit of a whore."

"But he... last night..."

"Doesn't matter," Minho mumbled, offering a small, sympathetic smile. Taemin barely noticed. "Whether you fucked, or kissed, or declared your love. It doesn't matter. He's not the type to belong to just one person. Whatever he did, or said, there was probably no real meaning behind it. He's in love with fun, and music, but that's all that really matters to him. Besides his sister, but that's a whole different story."

Taemin blinked as he stared at Minho, his mouth gaping open a little. He felt his breath start to shake, just slightly at first, until he felt something inside of him pull tightly and snap. His skin felt cold, his limbs felt heavy and at the same time like they weren't even there, and his hands felt like they were being twisted and contorted despite the fact that they were just sitting in his lap, shaking. Everything hurt, he realized, as he felt the unmistakable bubbling in his stomach, a vague taste of bile rising in his throat. "It hurts," He whispered, his mind spinning as he felt his stomach clench and unclench painfully, his eyes wide as he tried so hard to focus on the floor in front of him, not wanting to think about the way his heart was squeezing him so tight, the way his entire body ached to the point where he just wanted to curl into a ball and wish for it to go away. 

"Hey, what's wr--" Minho started, but just then the door opened, revealing none other than Jonghyun. Taemin looked at him, his sight fuzzy at first. But that quickly changed as he took in the way Jonghyun's shirt was missing a button near the top, the way his hair looked messy, as if it'd been nearly torn out and then finger-combed to try and look acceptable. He noticed the lipstick stain on the collar of his shirt, the swollen lips, and that stupid grin plastered on his lips, like he'd just claimed ownership of the world.

Taemin froze, merely staring at Jonghyun for what was probably just a few seconds, but it felt like hours. He felt the way his heart twisted painfully, the way his entire body turned numb. He felt the realization settle into the back of his mind, as he finally realized the truth. That the kiss, the sweet whispers, everything that they'd said and done until now, had been just for fun. It didn't matter to Jonghyun; at least, not in the way it mattered to Taemin. It hurt.

"Fuck you," Taemin whispered under his breath, watching with satisfaction as Jonghyun finally, finally looked at him for the first time in hours. He watched the way Jonghyun's eyes widened, the way they looked surprised and then panicked, the way he looked like a child who'd been caught coloring on the walls in the dining room. Taemin glared at him, glared as hard as he could, before turning to Minho suddenly. He paused for just a split second as his heart screamed at him not to, but he shoved it aside as he leaned up and pushed his lips against Minho's, feeling the way the air tensed and stilled. He squeezed his eyes shut as his heart broke painfully, feeling it within the core of his being the very moment his world shattered into pieces.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They still slept in the same room, they still ate dinner with their parents and siblings every night, and they still spent almost all of their time listening to music. The only difference was that they never spoke."

It had been a week since the incident at karaoke, and it seemed like everything had changed, and yet, nothing really had. Jonghyun was still a pompous asshole, and Taemin was still a sneaky twerp. Jonghyun still sang, and Taemin still danced. They still slept in the same room, they still ate dinner with their parents and siblings every night, and they still spent almost all of their time listening to music. The only difference was that they never spoke. Jonghyun no longer made fun of Taemin in that almost loving way, Taemin never delivered swift kicks to Jonghyun's ass while cackling to himself, and they no longer discussed ways Jonghyun could improve his song and Taemin could improve his dance while switching turns in the basement. 

Instead, they had posted a small schedule on the side of the wall, clearly stating which hours were for Jonghyun to use, and which ones were for Taemin. When Jonghyun's hours were up, he always went back upstairs without a single word, texting on his phone furiously as if it were the only thing that could capture his attention. Most of the time Taemin went back upstairs the second Jonghyun entered the basement, because it hurt far too much to hear him singing his love song to Juliette, but sometimes he would wear himself out while dancing on purpose, just so that he would have an excuse to stay there and listen to his voice. Taemin knew that that voice wasn't meant for him, but it didn't keep the smile from appearing at the corner of his lips when Jonghyun wasn't looking.

Jonghyun had also started sneaking out of the house every night, though it could hardly be considered sneaking when he didn't even try to hide his presence. He would leave the house around 23:00 and not come back until early in the morning, falling asleep the second he hit his bed. Taemin was starting to slowly grow worried, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Jonghyun's eyes had developed dark circles underneath them, he didn't make coffee anymore, and his voice had started losing its' strength, as if his soul were wearing thin. Taemin wasn't sure what he was supposed to do; he'd tried talking to Jonghyun, only to have him ignore his very existence, slipping past him like he wasn't even there. He'd tried setting the alarm clocks to keep him from sleeping so he'd be too tired to go out at night, but the alarm clocks never went off, since Taemin had been to afraid to turn their settings to 'on'. He'd even tried talking to Jonghyun's parents about it, only to have them brush him off, saying that Jonghyun was still young and that's what all young kids did. He wasn't sure of what he was supposed to do anymore.

*********

"Hey, kid! I haven't seen you around for a while!" Someone yelled, clapping Taemin on the shoulder. Taemin shrieked, jumping about ten feet in the air and spinning around, his heart racing and his head pounding as he saw none other than... the security guard?

"What, you thought I was some pedo?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow at Taemin as if trying to appear wounded, despite the teeth-flashing grin plastered on his face. 

"Y-you remember me?" Taemin asked cautiously, shifting his eyes around the street nervously. He was standing outside of the night club after having followed Jonghyun secretly, wanting to see what he was up to. Taemin had been slightly disappointed that it wasn't anything dangerous, because he'd been hoping to get Jonghyun's parents to stop him from wearing himself to the bone every night, but at the same time he was also relieved. Despite the nerves that rose in his throat at the idea of being so close to this place that he'd shared with Jonghyun, he was glad that Jonghyun wasn't doing anything that could get him into more trouble.

"Of course I remember you! You're the kid Bling brought here!" The man grinned, throwing his arm around Taemin's shoulders casually, as if they were best friends. Taemin blinked at him. "Ah, sorry. The name's Lee Changsun, but everyone around here calls me Joon. Sounds a hell of a lot more threatening, which is kinda needed if you want to be a bouncer, ya know?"

Taemin nodded as if he did know, his eyes darting around nervously. He wasn't used to holding conversations even with his parents, let alone complete strangers he'd only met once before. He remained silent, glancing at Joon with cautious eyes, raising an eyebrow when he noticed that he was still looking at him, almost expectant.

"Well, aren't you gonna tell me your name?"

"Oh!" Taemin exclaimed, a dark flush rising to his cheeks as some of the people around them started laughing. Why did he have to be so awkward in situations like these? "I'm Lee Taemin."

"Another Lee!" Joon grinned, as if that honestly excited him to no end. Taemin nodded, not entirely sure what he should make of this man just yet. "Sweet, I was starting to think there were only Kim's and Park's left in this world."

"I thought the Lee family name was pretty common," Taemin mumbled, furrowing his brow a little. Joon laughed, patting Taemin on the head as if he were a child or a puppy or something equally unthreatening and cute.

"Most of the Lee's are stuck in Seoul, kid. Here in Incheon, there's only really Kim's and Park's. Sometimes Choi's, but they're not that common," Joon said. Taemin blinked, wondering to himself why anyone would want to learn about something as odd as the popularity's of family names and where they were most likely to occur, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind, not even wanting to know this strange man's train of thought anymore, lest he start wondering about which street name occurred the most in all of South Korea. "Anyway, how come you're here alone? Bling didn't bring you this time?"

"We're not talking," Taemin replied simply, ignoring the slight pang in his heart. Joon didn't notice his slightly troubled expression, and instead just patted him on the shoulder and grinned at him.

"You guys will figure it out eventually. He's a bit of an idiot a lot of the time, so you might have to smack him upside the head a few times for him to get it, but he'll come around. He adores the living shit out of you, he wouldn't let you guys break completely."

Taemin blinked, his mouth gaping open slightly as he stared at Joon, who was now looking around the street as if he was done with the conversation, like he just gave out words of wisdom at the drop of a hat all the time. He looked around, feeling something in his chest loosen just a little bit, as if hearing that was exactly what he'd needed. Taemin smiled slightly to himself, ducking his head down and muttering a 'thank you' to Joon before turning around and high-tailing it back home, his heart filling slowly with the determination to fix things once and for all.

*********

"Taemin! Your friend is here!" Someone shouted up the stairs. Taemin blinked, putting his book down and furrowing his eyebrows together as he wondered what the hell his brother was going on about now. He sighed, putting a bookmark between the pages 91 and 92 and heading downstairs, yawning a little as he realized for the first time how tired he was. After coming back home last night, he'd been too anxious to fall back asleep, instead staying up reading his book, waiting for Jonghyun to come back. Only, Jonghyun hadn't come back at all last night, and it was already 11:00 the next afternoon. To say he was a little bit worried would be an understatement.

Taemin dragged his feet down the steps, peaking around the staircase curiously, only to halt suddenly, his eyes flying wide. Over in the next room, Jonghyun was standing there looking as calm as ever, a grin on his face as he talked about something ridiculous, his hands flailing about in the air as he tried to get his point across. The person he was talking to laughed, that deep voice resonating against the tiled kitchen walls. _Minho..._

"What took you so long?" Taemin's brother asked from the bottom of the staircase, a huge grin on his face as he made a move to go upstairs. Taemin sighed, shaking his head a little and letting his brother pass before walking slowly into the kitchen, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and curled into tight, nervous fists. 

"Hi," Taemin mumbled, his head ducked and staring straight at the floor, his face flushing as he felt the awkwardness of the situation settle in. How was he going to explain this?

"Taemin," Minho said, though it was more of a whisper, a small smile quirking at the corners of his lips. "How are you?"

"I--" Taemin started, cutting himself off as he realized he really had no idea how to answer that. He felt okay, there was nothing wrong, but somewhere in his heart he had a sense of something akin to drowning. Technically, he was okay; he was healthy. But at the same time, he felt as if his lungs were being squeezed shut, like he was suffocating. He paused, gaping his mouth open and shutting it again, his eyes darting nervously to where Jonghyun stood, pleading him with his eyes to put aside their shit and make some smartass remark that would get him out of answering. He didn't.

"Well, I can see you don't want me around," Jonghyun said, a grin on his face that resembled a grimace more than a smile. He unfolded his arms from across his chest and grabbed the can of soda from on top of the counter, waving an arm behind him without turning around, as if he were saying a final goodbye. "Feel free to use the basement, guys. It's not my turn for another 2 hours."

Taemin frowned, his eyes fixated on Jonghyun's back, watching as he walked away as if there was nothing abnormal about this whole thing. Minho placed a hand on his shoulder, a small smile on his lips as he gave a small nod, trying to let him know something. Taemin didn't know what it was; he'd stopped being able to think coherently the second he saw Jonghyun smiling from the staircase.

"We need to talk, I think," Minho mumbled, pointing in the direction of the basement. Taemin froze, glancing between Minho and that door for a long moment, tugging at his bottom lip nervously. He knew he had to talk to Minho; he wasn't hesitant because of that. He just didn't want anyone else to enter that basement, the one that was his and Jonghyun's and no one else's. Minho looked pointedly at the stairs that Jonghyun had disappeared to, trying again to tell him something with his eyes. 

Taemin glanced up the stairwell where he could see Jonghyun heading into their room, his fingers flying furiously over his texting keyboard. Taemin watched him for a long moment before letting a sigh escape his lips, nodding his head slowly in acknowledgement. Minho smiled, walking toward the basement door, Taemin trailing after him with his attention focused on the ground in front of him, not noticing the eyes that followed him the entire way down.

"Wow. That's a lot of cds," Minho mumbled, a low whistle escaping his lips. Taemin looked up, a small smile gracing his lips as he nodded his head, looking at the three tables full of nothing but cds, all stacked high and arranged in alphabetic order. "Whose are they?"

"I dunno," Taemin answered, shrugging his shoulders. "We had a lot of the same cds when we moved here, so we sat around for hours and compared them to see which copy had less scratches. The one in better condition came down here, and the other was put in the closet in case something happened to the one we used."

"You guys didn't separate them by owner?" Minho asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah," Taemin said, turning to Minho and smiling just slightly. "To us, all that matters is music. It doesn't matter whose cd it was originally, because we just want to get the most we can out of this room, and the music."

Minho made a small 'hmm' of approval, nodding his head as he pursed his lips in thought. He glanced at Taemin, a curious expression lining his features. "I wonder if you realize that you since we met, you've never referred to yourself and Jonghyun by your names, but by 'we'. Like a couple would do."

Taemin blinked at Minho, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried recalling his past conversations with Minho, however few they were. He blinked and chewed on his bottom lip, his face flushing red as he realized that Minho was right. Shit, had he really let himself become that attached?

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, shaking his head from side to side rapidly. "About. That thing. At karaoke. I was just--"

"I know, Taemin," Minho replied easily, taking a seat on the carpeted section of the floor, gesturing for Taemin to sit on the couch in front of him. Taemin chewed on his lower lip, ungracefully falling onto the couch with a sigh. "Jonghyun is a bit of an idiot sometimes. He won't get it unless you beat it into him."

"You're the second person to tell me that in less than 24 hours," Taemin remarked, smiling wryly. He paused for a moment, letting his thoughts roll around in his head for a long moment before groaning, rubbing his face with his hands as hard as he could, trying to gain any sense of what the hell he should do. "I wish I could stop this.... this _thing_."

"You mean liking him?" Minho asked, a small smile on his lips. Taemin nodded his head slowly, glancing up at Minho cautiously, as if he were afraid of something.

"How do I stop?" Taemin whispered, his eyes widening as he realized the thing he was afraid of was himself. Not even three months ago, he'd been content with listening to Jonghyun sing his love song to Juliette, but now he felt an aching in his chest that wanted more. He wanted to talk to him, to mean something to him, to be able to smile at him with all his heart and never let go of him. He wanted so much more, and it hurt, knowing that he couldn't have it.

"I don't know how, Taemin," Minho said, sighing softly.

"But you've been through this before, right?" Taemin asked, his voice pleading with Minho to give him any kind of hint, any kind of guide. "You've had to get over someone you couldn't have, right?"

"No," Minho mumbled, shaking his head to the side. Taemin ducked his head low, nodding his head slowly. Minho sighed. "My heart already belongs to someone. I haven't met them yet, but I know that they're out there, and I know that I can't get over them. And I don't want to."

"But why?" Taemin asked, his voice climbing an octave as he started to almost whine. "Why don't you want to get over them?"

"Because. My feelings, while being silly and ridiculous, have a place to go one day. For now, I'm just going to savor them until the day I meet that person, and when I do, I'm going to give everything to them."

Taemin blinked, staring at Minho for a long moment. He took in the way Minho's eyes had clouded over slightly, the way the smile on his lips seemed so much more genuine than anything he'd seen before, the way his body seemed to relax so completely, as if he really was content with feeling like that. Taemin took in a deep, shuddering breath, biting hard on his lower lip as he tried to force back the tears that threatened to spill.

"I wish I could be happy, like you," Taemin whispered, a sad smile forming along his lips as he looked at Minho. Minho blinked up at him with wide eyes, but said nothing, as if he knew that Taemin didn't need a response.

Taemin felt the oxygen in his lungs freeze, felt himself choke on nothing as he tried not to let the feeling in his chest get to him and failed. A single tear slipped from his eye, falling down his cheek slowly until it hit his lip, the salty taste bringing forth even more. Before he even realized his mouth had slowly opened, he started speaking, his voice quiet and choked. He told Minho about how he'd listened to Jonghyun sing every day on their school bus back in Seoul, how he'd been enraptured with him the second he'd heard his soul pouring from his lips. He told Minho about how when he'd moved to Incheon, the only thing he'd regretted leaving behind was Jonghyun's voice, and how shocked and full of joy he'd been when he saw Jonghyun standing in the doorway of his bedroom on his first day here. He told Minho how much it had hurt to see Jonghyun with that girl at the karaoke booth, how he'd cried two nights ago for the first time in years because of how much he missed Jonghyun. He told him how much he missed Jonghyun's coffee, his smile, his egotistic nature, and even the way he'd throw things at him randomly. He told him how much he loved Jonghyun's voice, when he talked, when he laughed, when he made some smartass remark, and most of all when he sang. He told Minho about the dance he'd created to Jonghyun's song, how he'd been working on it since the very first day he'd heard it, how he hated the way everything turned out, how he hated himself for falling so hard and so far for someone who could never be his.

Minho nodded his head slowly, just silently sitting there and listening to Taemin as he poured his heart and soul out for him to see. Taemin didn't even notice the tears falling from his eyes at an alarming rate until Minho held out a handkerchief to him, a small smile on his lips. Taemin felt for the first time how clipped his breathing was, how fast his heartbeat felt, how flushed his skin was. He took the handkerchief, his hand trembling violently as he wiped the tears from his face, even as more kept falling.

"It's okay to love him, Taemin," Minho whispered. Taemin blinked at him, his eyes wide and shaking as he curled into himself, not really knowing if he should believe Minho's words. He nodded his head slowly, his lips trembling as he reached out, grabbing Minho by the shoulders and pulling him into a hug. Minho returned the embrace, patting his back softly the way someone would pat a crying baby, whispering soft words of encouragement, telling him that it was okay, that it was all going to be okay.

*********

"I'm sorry," Taemin whispered, his voice shaky and cracking as he walked Minho to the door an hour later. "I didn't mean to--"

"It's okay," Minho said, smiling at Taemin softly. "We're friends, Taemin. That's what friends do for each other."

Taemin nodded his head slowly, his breath hitching as he watched Minho turn around and leave their house, turning back and waving goodbye when he reached the gate. Taemin waved back at him, watching him with sad eyes as he walked to the end of the street, until he disappeared out of sight. He sighed, shutting the door softly and pressing his forehead against the hard wood, a small leftover sob escaping his lips.

"Aww, poor baby," Jonghyun remarked from his place at the bottom of the stairs, his voice absolutely scathing. Taemin turned around slowly, his eyes narrowing as he saw the cruel smirk turning Jonghyun's normally attractive smirk into something so cold and ugly. "I didn't know you two were so close, or I would have brought him over earlier."

Taemin frowned, his eyes falling to the ground as he went to move past Jonghyun, his breath catching in his throat as Jonghyun grabbed his ankle. Taemin blinked, turning to look at Jonghyun with as much venom as he could, for turning him into this fucking babbling, crying mess in the first place, shaking Jonghyun's hand off and swiftly kicking him in the thigh, laughing to himself sadly as Jonghyun let out a screech of pain.

"Yah, what was that for?!" Jonghyun yelled, slamming his fist against the wall angrily. Taemin sighed, turning back to face Jonghyun, a sad, desolate smile playing on the corner of his lips. Jonghyun blinked at him, his expression turning almost curious for a moment as he forgot the pain in his leg.

"You're an idiot, Kim Jonghyun," Taemin whispered, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that fell from his eyes, finding it hard to find satisfaction even as Jonghyun gaped at him stupidly. "You're the biggest fucking idiot I've ever met. And I'm not sure if I ever want to speak to you again."

Taemin took in the way Jonghyun's mouth opened and closed stupidly, the way his body had tensed completely. He sighed, shaking his head sadly as he turned to walk the rest of the way to their room, slamming the door shut behind him and thinking that he wouldn't entirely mind curling under the covers and sleeping for the next week.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "His dad was fluttering around nervously, asking weird questions at complete random, while his mother kept looking around as if she were afraid of something, and had even made him a huge breakfast. He was starting to wonder if anyone died. "

"Taeminnie, is there anything you want to do today?"

Taemin blinked, looking up at his dad who was again trying to look perfectly calm, despite the way he was wringing his hands together. Taemin shrugged, muttering a 'not really' before turning his attention back to his waffles. His parents had been acting strange all morning; his dad was fluttering around nervously, asking weird questions at complete random, while his mother kept looking around as if she were afraid of something, and had even made him a huge breakfast. He was starting to wonder if anyone died.

"Taeminnie.... you do know what today is, right?"

Taemin blinked again, raising an eyebrow at his dad. He frowned, trying to remember the date for a long moment before shrugging his shoulders. "It's July... something, right?"

Taemin's parents exchanged a glance that bordered between worried and relieved, a small smile gracing their lips. Taemin blinked, furrowing his brow as he glanced around the kitchen at his brother and Jonghyun's family, growing more and more suspicious by the second.

"I'm back!" Jonghyun yelled from the front door as he kicked it shut with his foot. "I got the shit!"

Jonghyun's mother made a disapproving sound, muttering something teenagers and their filthy mouths before going over to grab the bags from Jonghyun, pointing him over in the direction of the kitchen. Jonghyun walked over, planting himself in the only open seat, directly in front of Taemin. Taemin blinked at him for a moment before narrowing his eyes and going back to eating his breakfast, deciding that he wasn't ready to talk to Jonghyun just yet. Jonghyun sighed, grabbing the box of cereal and container of milk, pouring himself a bowl before starting to eat, awkwardness practically radiating off of him in waves.

"When is he going to get here?" Taemin's dad asked. Taemin looked up curiously, assuming that he had been asking him and wondering what he was babbling about now, but instead his dad was looking directly at Jonghyun, a serious expression on his face.

"It should be any minu--" Just then, the doorbell rang, making everyone but Taemin jump. They exchanged nervous looks, as if they thought there were loan sharks or door-to-door salespeople standing on the other side. Taemin sighed, getting up from his seat and walking over to the door, ignoring the yells that told him not to answer. He rolled his eyes and opened the door, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Minho...."

"Hey, Taemin." Minho said, smiling at him. Taemin blinked, looking around as if he didn't quite understand what was going on, wondering why Minho was here and why his parents were acting weird and why Jonghyun had gone shopping earlier and-- "Here."

Taemin's thoughts were abruptly cut off as a box was shoved into his hands. Taemin blinked, looking up at Minho as if he were an alien or something equally unusual and weird. 

"Happy birthday."

"But it's not--" Taemin paused, turning around to look at the kitchen where his family and Jonghyun and Jonghyun's family were standing and sitting, staring at him with anxious eyes. He squinted to read the calender behind them, his eyes going wide when he saw what day it was. July 18th, his birthday.

Minho coughed awkwardly, and suddenly Taemin's parents rushed to the door, inviting him in as Taemin's mother wrapped her arm around Taemin's shoulder in a hug, whispering a happy birthday to him with a smile. 

"I can't believe you forgot!" Taemin's brother yelled from his spot in the kitchen, laughing to himself until Jonghyun's sister thwapped him on the back of the head, hard. His brother yelled something about how that was mean, to which Jonghyun's sister smacked him again, a grin playing along her lips as if she were enjoying this immensely.

Taemin blinked at them, his eyes shifting from his parents, to Jonghyun's parents, to Minho, and finally to Jonghyun. His breath caught in his throat as he saw a small smile on Jonghyun's lips; not a sneer, not a smirk, but a smile. Taemin ducked his head as a smile played along his own lips, taking a deep breath to steady himself before he looked back up, this time at his parents.

"Thank you, guys."

Taemin's mother made that typical mother face, all pressed lips and shining eyes, smiling as she wrapped Taemin in her arms again, petting his hair gently.

"It's the least we could do," Taemin's dad said, smiling at Taemin and patting him on the shoulder, reaching into his back pocket to come out with three pieces of hard paper. "We want you to have fun today, so we got you tickets to that amusement park in the next city. We want you to go with Jonghyun and Minho, and you can open your presents when you get back."

Taemin gaped at him, his eyes going wide as he stared at the tickets, his jaw dropping just a little. He'd never been to an amusement park before, because they'd never really been able to afford it. His eyes darted up, taking in everyone's smiling faces, a faint blush rising to his cheeks as he grinned. He glanced over at Jonghyun who was still smiling at him just slightly, feeling a small bubble of hope rise in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, today would be the day that changed everything.

*********

"Where should we go first?" Taemin asked, his voice breathy with excitement as he bounced where he stood, his eyes taking in all the huge machines and rides around him. It was even better than he'd expected; so loud, so lively, so... perfect.

"Hmm, well since we just ate it wouldn't be a good idea to do anything with a lot of flipping or going upside-down," Minho mumbled wisely, reading the small map they'd been given at the gate that had a list of all the rides and where they could be found. "Let's just get in that line for now and figure it out while we wait."

Taemin nodded, bouncing over to the end of the line where a teenage couple stood in front of them, holding hands and laughing quietly, looking at each other as if they were in their own little world. Taemin watched them for a long moment, barely noticing the pout that had appeared on his lips, wishing that he could do that with Jonghyun. He glanced over at Jonghyun, who was looking at the couple with a despondent expression lining his features, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Taemin frowned, wondering what - or who - Jonghyun was thinking about, a tinge of jealousy starting to bubble in his stomach. He quickly squashed it down, reminding himself that today was supposed to be a good day. He was going to have fun with Minho and Jonghyun, and he wasn't going to worry about all the drama that had been nearly suffocating them over the last couple of weeks. 

"Maybe we should go on the one where it drops suddenly? After that we can hit the roller coasters, and then the water rides since they're close by," Minho pondered out loud. Jonghyun glanced up at this, his eyes widening as he caught Taemin staring at him. Taemin blushed, ducking his head to stare at the ground, mumbling something about that ride sounding like a good idea, trying to ignore the tingle on the back of his neck that could have either been from the sun or Jonghyun's stare that was surely on him right now. 

They moved from their line, having figured out their plan relatively quickly, heading over to where the sudden drop ride was located. Taemin eyed the crowd as they walked by, finding himself almost amazed at the number of people that were there, and even more so by how many different _types_ of people there were. He'd never really payed much attention to the outside world, instead focusing solely on his dance, so seeing this many people kind of astounded and amazed him, while making him a little bit nervous at the same time. He twiddled his fingers at his sides, gnawing on his lower lip as they continued walking to the next location, his eyes darting around anxiously until they landed on the ground. He kept his head down, noting all the different kinds of shoes running around, until something caught his eye. 

To his right, a hand was reaching out toward his, the fingers stopping just inches from his wrist and retracting for a few moments before reaching out again. This continued for an entire minute, the back and forth and back and forth, until the other person finally gave up, deciding to just place their hand in their pocket. Taemin blinked, glancing up nervously, his breath catching as he saw Jonghyun walking beside him, eyes narrowed and set stubbornly as he kept his focus on the street directly in front of him. Taemin's mouth gaped open a little in surprise, letting out a squeak when he ran into a pole. 

"Taemin, are you okay?" Minho asked, his hands hovering over Taemin nervously. Taemin groaned, holding his head and nodding slowly, not wanting to make it hurt any more than it did already. 

"I'm fine, Minho," Taemin mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut for a short moment before glancing back up, blinking a few times to clear his sight until Minho's worried face came into focus. He smiled at him to try and let him know he really was okay, glancing to his right to find Jonghyun. Only, Jonghyun wasn't there. He blinked, darting his eyes around the crowd in search of Jonghyun, but he wasn't anywhere in his line of vision. He spun around twice, not caring that it made him slightly dizzy, his eyes searching for that familiar tuft of hair, that bright blue shirt that he'd been wearing, but it was nowhere. Taemin blinked, gnawing on his lower lip and ducking his head as he tried to remind himself that people got lost all the time.

"I think.... that he wanted to give us space," Minho said quietly, clearly knowing exactly who Taemin was looking for. Taemin sighed, grumbling something incoherent under his breath and kicking at the ground. Today was supposed to be the day he smacked Jonghyun upside the head and fixed this whole damn drama between them. "Let's just have fun today, okay?"

Taemin sighed, looking around for Jonghyun one more time before giving up and nodding his head, asking Minho where the ride they were supposed to get on was. As they walked, he kept his eyes peeled for any hint of Jonghyun, his smile fading just a little each minute that he was nowhere to be seen. Taemin sighed, running a hand through his hair as he and Minho got into line, discussing a more solid plan of action while they waited.

"Tickets, please," The man standing in front of the ride said, reaching his hand out and looking at Taemin and Minho's all day passes, nodding his head and letting them on. Taemin felt his heart flutter as he sat in the seat, strapping his seatbelt on and lowering the thing over his head, his eyes darting around the crowd nervously. He watched all the people who were watching him, their eyes either scared or worried or excited. He was starting to wonder if this was really such a good idea, his stomach clenching in knots, and then suddenly, he was flying.

Every thought disappeared as he felt himself rise and fall, every ounce of negative emotion died in his chest as he found himself unable to focus on it, felt himself finally being freed. He laughed and screamed, his eyes burning with excitement for the first time in too long, feeling his heart race and pound against his chest in a way that was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. 

After that ride, he and Minho went on every roller coaster they could find, spending the time waiting in lines drinking soda and playing random hand games, sometimes talking to the people waiting in line with them and sometimes not. At some point, Taemin managed to trip coming off of a particularly fast roller coaster and wound up scraping his arm on the ground, so they'd gone to the nurse's station where some young girl merely sprayed the wound with water and antiseptic, put a band-aid on it, and sent him on his way. Not long after that, Minho got lost in the middle of the crowd, the cell phone tag with Taemin sounding something similar to, "'I'm by the thing', 'What thing?', 'The thing where you go upside down', 'The roller coaster?', 'No, the other thing'" and back and forth like that until Taemin miraculously found him by complete chance after his cell phone battery died. They roamed around, going to see the live shows and visiting the safari until the sky grew dark and they decided to take a break and get some food at a nearby stand.

"I'll be right back," Minho said with a stupid grin on his face as he left Taemin at the little table, heading toward the bathrooms. Taemin hummed to himself as he waited, nibbling on his hot dog a little bit, not really hungry because of the pure adrenaline running through his body. This had to have been the best birthday ever.

_"Sun will rise, close your eyes. Downfallen falling, hold inside, just howling in the shadows"_

Taemin blinked, looking at Minho's cell phone as it started ringing. The screen flashed brightly for a few moments before the person calling was re-directed to voicemail. He glanced around, looking to see if Minho was on his way, jumping a little when the phone started ringing again. He frowned, picking the phone up and squinting at the screen until he recognized the familiar Hangul, chewing on his bottom lip. He looked around for Minho once again before answering the phone with a small 'hello.'

"Yah, what took you so long to answer?" Jonghyun asked, sounding more impatient than Taemin had ever heard him.

"He's in the bathroom, of course he didn't answer," Taemin mumbled, taking another bite of his hot dog.

"Taemin?" Jonghyun asked, clearly sounding surprised. He made a weird coughing noise, and Taemin somehow got the image of him blushing in his head for a moment. "Ah, whatever. Your parents are here to pick us up, so go get Minho and come to the front gate, okay?"

"Okay," Taemin said quietly, opening his mouth to ask Jonghyun where he'd run off to today, but before he got the chance he heard a click from the other end as Jonghyun hung up. 

Taemin blinked at the phone for a long moment before sighing, finishing off his food and grabbing his drink as he walked over to the bathrooms, waiting outside for Minho. When Minho finally exited, Taemin handed him his phone and relayed the information, both of them deciding to stop and get a small souvenir from the shop near the entrance before they met up with Jonghyun at the front gate, still smiling from the amazing day.

*********

"Why did you disappear like that today?" Taemin asked as he entered the room that he and Jonghyun shared, the older man trailing in behind him slowly.

They'd left the amusement park a while ago, his parents volunteering to drop Minho off at his home, which he'd gratefully accepted with a grin and a small wave to both Taemin and Jonghyun. When they finally got back home, his parents had said something about Taemin's present being wrapped and hidden in their closet, urging him upstairs with a smile and telling him that he could thank them in the morning. 

"I thought you'd want time to be with your boyfriend," Jonghyun mumbled, running a hand through his hair as he went over to their closet, grabbing a box covered in shiny red wrapping and tossing it toward Taemin. 

"He's not my boyfriend," Taemin mumbled, rolling his eyes at the disbelieving snort Jonghyun gave. "He's my friend. A good friend, but that's it."

"Then you just go around kissing all your friends?" Jonghyun asked, rolling his eyes and looking away, as if he'd rather be talking about anything but this. Taemin blinked, flopping onto his bed and grabbing the box, staring at the wrapping for a long moment before looking back up at Jonghyun, a single eyebrow raised disbelievingly.

"You really don't know why I did that?"

Jonghyun blinked, looking confused for a moment before shaking his head, laughing it off with a wave of his hand. "Look, would you just open your presents?"

Taemin grumbled something under his breath about Jonghyun being an idiot, to which Jonghyun threw the tube of wrapping paper at him like a javelin. Taemin ducked out of the way, a grin automatically lighting up across his face as he felt the familiar bubble of laughter tingling in his chest. Maybe they weren't completely broken, he mused as he ripped the shiny red paper, his eyes going wide as he saw what was in it.

"Holy--- the fuck? Is this real?" Taemin asked, his mouth gaping open as he stared at the iPod in his hand, fingers tracing it delicately. It was black, with his name in lime green graffiti printed across the top, the phrase “Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another” engraved into the back in loopy English text. 

"There's more," Jonghyun said, pointing to the box still situated in Taemin's lap. Taemin blinked, placing the iPod delicately on his bed before moving the white gift paper aside, his breath actually catching in his throat as he saw the brand new white sneakers with a red and black checkered logo near the back. He turned them over in his hands a few times, just gaping at them in complete shock. He'd never gotten gifts this amazing before; usually he was just given gift cards or money, and for his parents and Jonghyun's parents to get him presents this perfect....

"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything for your birthday," Jonghyun mumbled, kicking his feet in front of him awkwardly as he sat on the edge of his bed, head ducked down and staring at the floor.

Taemin blinked and glanced up from his gifts, a frown adorning his lips as he noticed the way Jonghyun suddenly seemed so downcast, so depressed. Taemin stared quietly, letting himself study Jonghyun's form for the first time in far too long, his eyes drinking in the strong arms, the short torso, the sharp jawline. He took in the way Jonghyun's back rose and fell when he breathed, the way his hair contrasted with his skin, the way his hands gripped the bed as if he were afraid of falling. Taemin drank him in, taking a shuddering breath as he placed the sneakers beside him on the bed as quietly as he could, standing up slowly and walking toward Jonghyun's bed.

Jonghyun looked up suddenly, his eyes going wide as he saw Taemin standing right in front of him. Taemin knew that the expression on his face was probably a mix of something anxious and something serious as he took in a deep breath, trying to draw up any ounce of courage he had.

"Are you really sorry?" Taemin whispered, hardening his jaw to try and keep his voice from trembling. "Does that mean I can take what I want, if you already have it?"

Jonghyun glanced around nervously, as if he were uncomfortable under Taemin's serious eyes. He shifted on his bed, seeming to think it over for a long moment before he looked up, nodding his head slowly.

Taemin smiled then. It wasn't a happy smile, or a sad smile, or a condescending smile; just a smile. He reached his hand out slowly, gently touching the edges of Jonghyun's hair before narrowing his eyes, smacking him upside the head as hard as he could. 

"What the hell was that for?!" Jonghyun screeched as he reached up to hold his head, his eyes squeezed together in pain. Taemin studied him for a moment, his smile widening as he moved to place his hand over Jonghyun's, lacing their fingers awkwardly. Jonghyun looked up at him, his eyes staring at him owlishly, only growing wider as Taemin leaned down, pressing his lips to Jonghyun's.

His lips were hard, demanding, and unrelenting as he poured every ounce of sadness and anger and frustration he'd felt in the last few weeks through his lips, letting it seep into Jonghyun's soul as he tried to relay to him every exact feeling he'd experienced, and how it was all because of him. He felt Jonghyun inhale sharply, felt his body start to move, and pulled away. Jonghyun's arms were raised just slightly, as if he had been preparing to either push Taemin away or pull him closer. Taemin smiled at him, tilting his head to the side as he felt his heart relax for the first time in far too long.

"You really are an idiot, Kim Jonghyun," He whispered calmly, his fingers playing along the edges of Jonghyun's hair lightly. He retracted his hand and slowly turned away, reaching for his new iPod and heading down to the basement to fill it, his heart smiling just as much as his lips.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Apparently, Jonghyun took that as a sign that he could shout questions as loud as he wanted and annoy the living daylights out of Taemin because no one would be there to stop him."

"Why did you kiss me?" Jonghyun asked the next morning as he more or less shoved his face in Taemin's, a bright grin playing along his lips.

It was the next day, and Taemin was officially a year older. It didn't feel much different to him, but at the same time everything seemed to have changed. His brother and Jonghyun's sister were out for the day, looking into local colleges to inquire about fall courses. His father was out at the high school he'd be teaching at once school started back up again, and his mother had gone with him for support. Jonghyun's parents were both at work, finally settling into the way life was going to be from now on, which meant that Taemin and Jonghyun were stuck in the house alone. Apparently, Jonghyun took that as a sign that he could shout questions as loud as he wanted and annoy the living daylights out of Taemin because no one would be there to stop him.

"Because I wanted to," Taemin said simply, shoving Jonghyun to the side and into the table so he could eat his cheerio's in peace.

"Did you kiss Minho because you wanted to?" Jonghyun asked, rubbing his head a little and planting his ass in the seat next to Taemin, propping his chin up on his shoulder. Taemin blinked at him for a moment, grabbing his spoon and slapping Jonghyun on the forehead with it, giggling at the hollow sound it made. Jonghyun pouted, whining about how he'd become stupid ever since Taemin moved in because he kept hitting him.

"If anything, I'm transferring my intelligence into your brain. You should be thankful," Taemin grinned, tossing the spoon into the sink from where he was seated, grabbing a new one from the middle of the table.

"Yah, you're not even that smart!" Jonghyun protested, shoving Taemin to the side a little, grinning.

"I'm smarter than you," Taemin mumbled, grabbing his bowl of cheerios and hopping off his stool, giggling when Jonghyun fell to the floor and landed flat on his ass. Taemin ignored the long stream of cuss words that followed him, humming lightly to himself as he headed over to the basement, still munching on his cereal as he headed down the stairs.

"Hey, you're not allowed to eat in there! It's a sacred place!" Jonghyun shouted, following Taemin into the basement but making no move to get the food out of there. Taemin raised his eyebrow at Jonghyun before shrugging his shoulders, heading over to the desk and setting the bowl down. 

"Hey, can we tear that thing down?" Taemin asked as he eyed the schedule on the wall of when they were allowed to use the basement. Jonghyun snorted, walking over to the paper himself and tearing it off with a grin. Taemin smiled, grabbing the paper from Jonghyun and ripping it into a bunch of tiny pieces before tossing it in the waste basket, watching the schedule fall slowly into the basket slowly for a moment, a whoosh of relief escaping his lips as he finally felt things fall back into place with that one action.

Jonghyun started humming to himself, flopping onto the couch with a contented sigh, his hands laced together and folded over his stomach. Taemin giggled, reaching out with his foot and poking Jonghyun in the side lightly before heading to the other side of the room where they kept the computer, wanting to finish transferring their music to his iPod. He hooked it up to the cord, eying the bright green details and the inscription on the back with a small smile, still not quite believing that it was his.

"Do you really like that?" Jonghyun asked suddenly. Taemin blinked, turning around to look at Jonghyun with a raised eyebrow, not quite getting what he meant. "I mean, your presents. The iPod and the sneakers, do you like them or are you just pretending?"

"I love them," Taemin answered automatically, blinking at Jonghyun curiously. Jonghyun sighed, almost as if he were relieved, which only served to further Taemin's curiosity. "Why'd you ask?"

"Because... I picked them out," Jonghyun said, grinning.

"I thought you said you didn't get me anything," Taemin mumbled, a faint blush rising to his cheeks as he remembered what he'd taken as a present the night before. Jonghyun seemed to remember the same thing as he coughed awkwardly, his cheeks reddening just slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Our parents didn't know what to get you, so they gave me some money and told me to pick it out," Jonghyun mumbled, shrugging his shoulders modestly. "I guess they figured I knew you better than they did?"

"I wonder why they thought that," Taemin sing-songed, grinning at Jonghyun mischievously. Jonghyun blinked at him for a long moment, seeming to be completely baffled by Taemin's words. Taemin sighed, waving a hand as if telling him to ignore what he'd said if he didn't understand it. Jonghyun grinned, clearly understanding what Taemin was saying with his hands, making Taemin inwardly facepalm at how dense Jonghyun could be sometimes.

"Anyway, I figured that every dancer needs amazing shoes to dance in, and a music player to put a sound to their steps," Jonghyun said, fumbling with the hem of his shirt a little. "I didn't know if your iPod was working again or not, so I figured I'd get you a new one. But it was with their money, so it wasn't really from me."

Taemin raised an eyebrow as he tried to work out that logic and failed. He turned back to the computer and clicked a few things to make sure it was updating properly, before realizing what Jonghyun had just said. "Wait, if my iPod was working _again_?"

"Yeah," Jonghyun said, sitting up and stretching his arms above him. "Back in Seoul, there was a day on the bus where you were cussing at your iPod, and I never saw you using it after that," Jonghyun shrugged, going over to the stereo and putting in one of their cd's, completely unaware of Taemin's jaw which was currently gaping open, nearly hitting the floor.

"You mean.... you knew who I was? Back in Seoul?"

"Yeah, of course," Jonghyun said, turning to Taemin and raising an eyebrow when he saw just how far his jaw had dropped. Taemin blinked, poking his chin to get his jaw re-situated. "I figured you knew who I was, too."

"What would make you say that?" Taemin replied, his voice a little clipped as he turned to the computer, trying to hide the light blush that rose on his cheeks. He hoped to God that Jonghyun hadn't seen the way he stared at him every day; now _that_ would be embarrassing.

"You asked me to sign your yearbook," Jonghyun replied, as if that should have been obvious. Taemin blinked, turning back to Jonghyun again, his head tilting to the side as he stared at the man in front of him. Back in Seoul, he'd only asked Jonghyun to sign his yearbook because he was afraid of never seeing him again, of never hearing his voice again. He'd asked him that completely on a whim, figuring there was no real meaning behind the words Jonghyun had wrote and just taking it with a grain of salt, despite the way it had made his heart hum a little.

"So, that thing about being friends in the future. You meant it?" Taemin asked, chewing a little bit on his lower lip.

"Of course," Jonghyun said, grinning as he threw a random piece of wadded up paper at Taemin, effectively hitting him directly on the forehead. He let out a whoop of joy and pumped his fists in the air, to which Taemin responded by kicking him in the side. Jonghyun yelped, holding his side and glaring at Taemin like a wounded puppy until Taemin almost felt bad. 

"I'm sorry," Taemin mumbled, though he wasn't sure what exactly he was apologizing for. There was a lot he felt bad for; for always kicking Jonghyun and calling him an idiot, even if he deserved it. For acting irrationally, even if was Jonghyun who'd caused him to react that way in the first place. For not being honest with Jonghyun about anything, for always avoiding the topics they needed to discuss the most, and for not being able to make up for any of it.

"Bah, whatever. I'm stronger than I look," Jonghyun grinned, waving his hand in the air as he put on the N.E.R.D. cd and beckoned Taemin over. "Now, put on your dancing shoes and tell me how fucking amazingly easy they are to move in."

Taemin blinked at Jonghyun for a long moment, pulling his lower lip into his mouth as he nodded, ducking his head down for a few seconds. He knew that Jonghyun had no idea what he'd been apologizing for, but somehow he got the feeling that even if he had, his response would have been equally calm and nonchalant. He was just that kind of person; always letting things roll off his shoulders without so much as a second thought, always forgiving and forgetting before he could even think about what someone did. It was one of the things Taemin loved about him.

Taemin looked up at Jonghyun, who was standing there expectantly, and smiled. He took a deep breath before raising himself up from the computer chair and sliding his new dancing shoes on, determined to show him exactly what he could do.

*********

"Man, you should see this guy! He's even more of a princess than you!" Jonghyun remarked, his laughter turning into a howl as Taemin effectively kicked his ass with a grin.

"I'm not a princess," Taemin grumbled, pouting and crossing his arms childishly.

"Yes you are!" Jonghyun laughed, rolling over to avoid the kick that had been aimed directly at his hip. "You have to drink everything at room temperature. You can't sleep without a blanket over your stomach, you leave the light in the bathroom all night because you don't want to stub your toes, and you shower twice a day! How is that _not_ a princess?"

"I'll have you know that my body temperature is naturally lower than most people's, so hot coffee burns me a lot more easily, and sleeping without a blanket makes me cold. And I'm really clumsy when I'm tired! And I dance so much that I have to take two showers, otherwise I'll be all sweaty and disgusting!" Taemin defended, rolling toward Jonghyun and smacking him upside the head since he couldn't kick him.

"Princess syndrome!" Jonghyun sing-songed, laughing heartily as he let himself get beat up by Taemin, too busy laughing to even think about defending himself. 

"You're mean," Taemin whined, pouting as he realized that torturing Jonghyun was no fun if he wasn't trying to retaliate. Jonghyun laughed, reaching out and grabbing Taemin by the shoulders, mussing his hair up as hard as he could. Taemin shrieked, kicking out at Jonghyun until he was released, rolling away until he could glare at Jonghyun from a safe distance.

"I said Key's worse than you, so stop being such a baby," Jonghyun grinned, sticking his tongue out childishly.

"Key?" Taemin asked, throwing a crumbled piece of paper at Jonghyun and sticking his tongue out right back.

"It's his nickname. He says there are too many Kim Kibum's in the world, and he fancies himself to be fucking amazing and unique," Jonghyun said, shrugging his shoulders, which looked a slightly awkward since he was laying on his stomach. "I dunno, he's kind of weird, but he can rap and sort of sing, or at least his voice has an interesting tone to it, so I guess I can put up with him."

"Before you know it, you're gonna have yourself a little boy band," Taemin cackled, merely grinning at the glare Jonghyun sent his way.

"I, dear Taemin, am an artist. I do not _do_ boy bands."

"Sure, you do," Taemin grinned, ducking as a shoe was thrown his way. "I mean, look. You've already got the main vocalist - you, you've got a rapper - Minho, and you've got that guy who no one really knows what he does but would probably be amazing on variety shows and be good at everything but not the best. Now all you need is a dancer and someone who's a complete fail boat, and you're all set!"

"I hate you," Jonghyun grumbled, planting his face in the carpet. He clearly didn't appreciate Taemin's mocking, which of course made Taemin practically hum with happiness. 

_"But your eyes say you want me badly~"_ Taemin sing-songed, laughing at the stunned look on Jonghyun's face. He grinned, repeating the line over and over until Jonghyun finally threw his other shoe and he had to shut up and duck out of the way. 

"Why is your voice not that bad?" Jonghyun asked, raising an eyebrow at Taemin, who blinked at him with confusion. He tilted his head to the side, shrugging his shoulders as he himself pondered that. He'd been an awful singer before, to the point where his brother had threatened to hire someone to cut out his vocal chords when he tried singing to the songs he'd danced to. 

"Must be because I've been around you too much," Taemin muttered, humming to himself as he thought of something. "Hey, have you written more of that Juliette song?"

"It's done," Jonghyun said, rolling over on his side to look at Taemin without having to crane his neck. "Why?"

"Sing it for me."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Taemin grumbled, kicking Jonghyun in the side stubbornly. Jonghyun muttered something under his breath about unnecessary violence before sitting up with a sigh, shaking the tension from his shoulders out as he cleared his throat.

Taemin closed his eyes and sat up, crossing his legs under him as he let himself get lost once again in Jonghyun's voice. He listened intently to every dip and rise in Jonghyun's voice, ignoring how awkward his rapping sounding, and just letting himself fall into the music, his mind conjuring up splashes of color and movement with every piece of the song.

"So, how is it?" Jonghyun asked once he'd finished, his voice sounding more wary than curious. Taemin opened his eyes slowly, a lazy smile gracing his lips as he nodded his head approvingly. Jonghyun grinned like someone had just flipped an electrical switch in his body, and Taemin giggled just slightly.

"Now, before I forget it, sing it again," Taemin said calmly as he stood up, ignoring the confused and skeptical look on Jonghyun's face.

"Before you forget what?"

"Just sing. I'll show you," Taemin hummed under his breath, taking a few steps backward until his feet hit the hardwood floor of the basement, his eyes closing as he saw the flashes of color in front of his eyes once again.

Jonghyun started singing again, and Taemin did the one thing that came more naturally to him than anything else: he danced. His feet moved with precision at every sharp intake of Jonghyun's voice. His arms popped and intertwined with each other with as much grace as he could manage, his torso shifted from side to side, and his hands shifted to accentuate every little movement. He let himself fall into the music, and though he knew most of the dance was a bit clumsy, he also knew that there was so much potential here. It was then, while he was dancing, that he realized that Jonghyun was indeed an artist, not just some kid with a decent voice.

"What the hell was that?" Jonghyun asked, his eyes wide. Taemin blinked his own eyes open and grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"A dance?" He questioned, shrugging his shoulders as he flopped on the ground near Jonghyun, his cheeks flushing a light red. "I made most of that up on the spot, so it wasn't that good. But I like your song; it makes me want to dance."

"Most of it?" Jonghyun asked, raising an eyebrow. Taemin ducked his head down, staring at the floor to hide the blush that was rising up his cheeks fast.

"I've kind of.... been working on a dance... for the chorus and the bridge... for a while," Taemin mumbled, keeping his eyes stubbornly set to the ground as he tried to keep the blush from darkening any, without any luck.

"Since when?" 

Taemin paused, biting on his lower lip and shifting his eyes over to Jonghyun nervously. "Since Seoul. The day that my iPod wouldn't work."

"Well, shit," Jonghyun mumbled, staring at Taemin with wide eyes. Taemin blushed harder and ducked his head back down, squeaking when Jonghyun slapped him on the back playfully with a bark of laughter. "You should have told me earlier!"

"I thought.... you might think I was weird," Taemin said quietly, shifting on the carpet almost nervously.

"I already think you're weird, Taeminnie," Jonghyun sing-songed. Taemin looked up at him and glared as hard as he could, to which Jonghyun only laughed. "You'd have to be weird to actually like being around me."

"I never said that!" Taemin yelled as his cheeks flushed bright red. Jonghyun grinned at him, in a way that let him know that he clearly wasn't buying it. Taemin felt the blush travel to his neck.

"Sure, kid. Sure," Jonghyun smirked, petting Taemin on the head like he was a dog. Taemin pouted, crossing his arms over his chest childishly. "Now, let's practice. I sing, you dance."

Taemin blinked, raising both eyebrows at Jonghyun as if to ask if he was serious, which Jonghyun replied to with a simple nod of his head. He sighed, giving a show of being annoyed at being asked to dance again, but inside he was elated. For the last several months, all he'd wanted to do was dance to this one song, to dance to Jonghyun's voice crooning a love song to Juliette.

And so, he stood up and walked over to the dance floor, his heart feeling like it was flying above him as he realized for the first time, that to him, Jonghyun's voice represented freedom. From all the locked up movements of his normal dancing, to the way he had locked himself away from the world not too long ago, to the way he could finally, finally smile and really mean it, it was all because of Jonghyun's voice, because of the soul that kept spilling through those lips like a sweet poison, changing him forever.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " 'Stoooooop, I'm sorry!' The person wailed, curling themselves into a little ball. Taemin smirked, kicking the ball of human hard enough to send them rolling off his bed, wincing at the sharp pain that shot up his spine."

"Taeminnie~~"

"Urgh."

"Taeminnie~ wake up~~"

"No," Taemin mumbled into his pillow, swatting at whoever was nudging him rudely, too tired to even realize that he'd just poked them in the eye.

"Taemin, wake up this instant or I'm going to squish you."

"Mrfff."

"Fine, you asked for it," The figure sing-songed before moving away. Taemin let out a sigh of relief, barely registering the feet running toward him until they'd already leapt in the air and came crashing down on his back.

"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" He shrieked, flailing around until he'd successfully turned himself onto his back so that he could smack the living shit out of whoever had just tackled him, but the person just kept laughing. Taemin glared, sitting up so he could effectively kick the person instead while punching the top of their head. 

"Stoooooooop, I'm sorry!" The person wailed, curling themselves into a little ball. Taemin smirked, kicking the ball of human hard enough to send them rolling off his bed, wincing at the sharp pain that shot up his spine.

"Since when are you so violent when I wake you up?" Jonghyun grumbled from the ground, now sprawled out on his stomach with his chin on the carpet, looking up at Taemin.

"Since you jumped on my back, idiot," Taemin grumbled back, pouting as he shifted his body where he sat until he felt his back crack back into place, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. He looked back down at Jonghyun, who was looking at him oddly. "What?"

"That cracking thing. It's icky," Jonghyun said, making a face as if to show exactly how icky he thought it was. Taemin smirked, swinging his legs off the bed until his feet were almost directly in front of Jonghyun's face, tensing his leg muscles and moving his ankles slowly back and forth until they cracked, making Jonghyun squeal like a little girl and roll away as fast as he could. 

Taemin chuckled mischievously, standing up and following Jonghyun until he was effectively cornered. He pretended to yawn, lifting his arms above his head and letting his back crack loudly a few times before moving one leg to stand behind the other, bending it as straight as he could until his knee cracked. Jonghyun squeaked and covered his face with his shirt as Taemin did the same to his other knee, then bending down in front of Jonghyun and poking him in the shoulder. Jonghyun peeked his eyes out from over his shirt and Taemin grinned, shoving his hand in front of Jonghyun's face and bending it awkwardly, his wrist cracking loudly, sending Jonghyun flying back under his shirt, revealing almost his entire torso.

Taemin blinked, trying not to let his eyes wander, though he had to admit that it was hard. Really fucking hard, especially considering the shape Jonghyun's abs were in and the faint line of hair near his bellybutton. He gulped and glared at Jonghyun, as if he was doing it on purpose, cracking both of his wrists rapidly and loudly right next to both of Jonghyun's ears until the older man screamed and yelled something that sounded vaguely like 'Have meeerrrrcccyyy!'

Taemin grinned with satisfaction, grabbing Jonghyun's shirt and pulling it down over his stomach again before flopping back onto the carpet and rolling away, back to his side of the room. Jonghyun blinked at him like a terrified lamb that had just seen a coyote attacking its' friend, which only made Taemin giggle.

"You're a very, very cruel person," Jonghyun squeaked, throwing a pillow at Taemin as hard as he could. Taemin caught it easily and threw it right back, hitting Jonghyun square in the face.

"You're a very, very cruel person, too," Taemin replied in a sing-song voice, raising his arms in the air and making an action of jumping onto someone. Jonghyun grumbled something under his breath and made an indignant noise, which gave Taemin the very strong urge to throw something at him; an urge he didn't even consider denying.

"Stop throwing shit!" Jonghyun whined, falling back with flailing limbs as he tried to untangle himself from Taemin's oversized t-shirt. Taemin giggled, grabbing his pillow and hugging it to his chest, an innocent grin taking over his lips.

"So, what did you wake me up for?"

Jonghyun blinked at him from just over the fabric of the t-shirt, seeming to have forgotten that he'd even woken Taemin up before screaming and standing up, throwing clothes at him.

"Hurry up, we've got to go! We'll be late!"

"Where are we going?" Taemin asked, squealing as he was pummeled in the face with various t-shirts and jeans, using his pillow as a shield against the onslaught. "We're not going to that weird Lee guy's club again, are we?"

"What weird Lee guy?" Jonghyun asked as he stalked over to Taemin's side of the room and grabbed a decent pair of jeans and a random t-shirt, throwing them onto Taemin's bed and grabbing everything else he'd thrown and tossing it over near the closet.

"That... Joon guy. The security guard who smiles way too much," Taemin said as he eyed the clothes, feeling almost bad for the discarded items. He sighed, standing up and grabbing the clothes Jonghyun had thrown onto his bed. Taemin studied them closely for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and walking over to the corner, turning his back to Jonghyun as he quickly got dressed.

"How do you know his name?" Jonghyun asked, his voice sounding slightly higher than normal. Taemin blinked, turning around and seeing the way Jonghyun was staring determinedly at the ground, his face a bright shade of red. 

"I met up with him," Taemin said, a lilt to his voice as he watched the way Jonghyun darted his eyes up nervously, only to have them widen until they were impossibly large and practically shove them on the carpet determinedly. Taemin giggled, quickly finishing getting dressed so that Jonghyun's skin could turn back to the color humans were supposed to be.

"What would you meet up with him for?" Jonghyun mumbled, shifting his feet on the ground as he pouted. Taemin grinned, grabbing Jonghyun's hand and leading him out into the hallway, giggling at the way Jonghyun seemed to trip over his own feet.

"I was looking for you," He said, turning to look back at Jonghyun with a meaningful look on his face. Jonghyun blinked at him like a deer in headlights, shaking his head and grinning with that same laugh he always gave when he was trying not to think too deeply about something. Taemin giggled, shaking his head as he led Jonghyun down the stairs, wondering exactly when things between them had started to change.

*********

"Yah, what took you so long?!" Someone shouted angrily as Taemin and Jonghyun came close to the karaoke place. Taemin blinked, raising an eyebrow at the people standing in front of the building, one of them with crossed arms and a bent knee, and the other merely standing there observing things.

"Hello, Minho," Taemin grinned, waving at him. Minho nodded and smiled at him, glancing at Jonghyun and then back to Taemin, his eyebrows raising meaningfully. Taemin grinned, rolling his eyes as a small giggle escaped his lips.

"Yah, who's this?" The other man asked, looking Taemin up and down with a raised eyebrow. Taemin blinked at him, his head tilting to the side a little since he wasn't sure whether or not he should answer. The question hadn't been directed at him, even if it _was_ about him specifically.

"This is--"

"OH!" The man shouted, cutting Jonghyun off easily as a smirk spread across his lips. "So _you're_ the infamous Taemin."

"Infam--"

"Yes, infamous," The man said, cutting Taemin's question off easily with a wave of his hand. "You're that kid that Jonghyun wouldn't stop talking about."

"Key, don't--"

"Oh, shut up," Key said, smacking Jonghyun upside the head and turning back to Taemin, as if that were the most natural thing to do. "Did he finally confess or something?"

"Huh?"

"Yah, don't tell me you didn't tell him," Key said, glaring at Jonghyun who was merely standing there smiling impishly. "Jesus, and to think of how much you kept whining about how good looking Minho is, like a jealous pre-teen or something."

"Key--"

"Do you know how much I had to listen to him whine about you and Minho going out?" Key asked, turning back to Taemin and staring at him expectantly. Taemin blinked, shifting his eyes around to make sure that Key was indeed asking him a question before shaking his head from side to side. "Jeez, you're lucky. Minho kept telling the poor bastard that you guys were only friends, but Jonghyun here got a case of 'Jealous Judy' and wouldn't stop bugging him about it."

"Key!"

"Oh, hush you raptor freak!" Key yelled, smacking Jonghyun again. Taemin blinked, wondering why Jonghyun wasn't fighting back like he always did when they were alone, until he realized something very obvious: Key was kind of scary. "The kid's got a right to know."

"Know what?" Taemin asked, blinking innocently as he realized that whatever he wanted to know, he could easily get from Key. The man seemed to like spreading other peoples' business, and Jonghyun couldn't seem to stand up to him, either. He made sure to make his eyes look as cute as possible, inwardly flinching when Key squealed.

"You were right, Jjong! He's adorable!" Key yelled, running forward and wrapping Taemin in a hug. Taemin blinked, holding his arms away from Key awkwardly, not quite sure of what to do in this kind of situation. It wasn't very often that guys who named themselves after metallic items came up and hugged him, claiming he was adorable. "Now, will you just tell him that you li--"

"Keyyyyy," Jonghyun whined loudly, and Taemin could practically hear him pouting like an abandoned puppy. "I'll tell him, just... later. Okay?"

Key blinked, unwrapping his arms from Taemin and turning around to look at Jonghyun, his eyebrow raised. Taemin let out a whoosh of breath as he let his arms drop back down to his sides, glaring at Minho who was trying so hard not to laugh that he was actually trembling. Minho grinned at him, a small snort escaping his lips (or was that his nose?) as he pressed his lips together tight, like this whole situation amused him to no end.

Taemin sighed, running a hand through his hair as he watched Key and Jonghyun whisper secretly amongst themselves, their eyes darting back and forth from each other to the ground to Taemin and back again. Taemin pouted, walking over to Minho and poking his cheek that was inflated with oxygen, jumping back in surprise as Minho burst out laughing, his hands clutching his sides as he leaned against the building for support.

"Well, that's unusual," Key muttered as he watched Minho with mild fascination before shrugging his shoulders and grabbing Jonghyun's shoulders and pushing him closer to the door of the karaoke building. Key turned back to Taemin and smiled, nodding his head over at Minho. "Come inside once he's done laughing his ass off, okay?"

Taemin blinked, nodding his head slowly as he turned to look at Minho who was standing against the building awkwardly, breathing deeply a few times before bursting into little giggles. Taemin sighed, poking Minho with his foot as he waited until finally, a good five minutes later, he stopped. 

"Sorry," Minho mumbled, a big stupid grin on his face as he shook his hair out like a wet dog, seeming to be completely wiped out.

"It's fine," Taemin sighed, raising an eyebrow at Minho as if to ask him what was so funny. Minho shrugged and looked over at the karaoke place curiously. Taemin grumbled something under his breath and nodded his head slowly before walking toward the door Jonghyun and Key had disappeared into a while ago, knowing that Minho was following him.

"Yah, what took you so long?" Key asked as they walked inside the building. Taemin blinked as he tried to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness, wondering idly if that was Key's favorite phrase or something. "Well, whatever. Jjong's getting our room, so you're actually in time, kind of."

"You said to wait until Minho was done laughing," Taemin grumbled under his breath, trying very hard not to shift around nervously because of the glare Key was suddenly sending him. 

"Taemin, maybe you should go and make sure he gets us a normal room," Minho said, a sharp and all-knowing look in his eyes. Taemin blinked, glancing around the room nervously for a second before nodding his head, walking into the lobby area, trying his hardest to ignore the questioning look Key kept sending him. 

"I thought you said Jjong always got the VIP lounge," Key whispered to Minho harshly. Taemin pressed his lips together, ignoring the way his stomach tensed as he remembered exactly how Jonghyun had gotten them a VIP lounge before. 

He walked through the dim hallway until he reached the area by the side entrance, where the pay station stood surrounded by hallways and staircases leading to all the different karaoke rooms. He glanced around, noticing the few couples scattered throughout the room until his eyes focused in on Jonghyun's back, a smile playing along the edges of his lips.

"So Jjong, do you want that VIP room?"

Taemin blinked, chewing on his lower lip as he walked with light footsteps toward where Jonghyun stood leaning against the counter with a grin directed at the girl standing behind the register. Taemin frowned as he recognized her instantly, though he had to admit that she looked a lot different with her hair tidy and her lipstick still on her lips. 

"I don't know, Gyuri," Jonghyun mumbled, letting his head fall forward as a sigh escaped his lips. "I kind of... can't."

"Girlfriend?" Gyuri asked, pursing her lips and nodding her head calmly. "That makes sense, but you know I won't tell a soul."

"It's not that," Jonghyun muttered quietly, running a hand through his hair as if he were frustrated at something. Taemin tilted his head to the side as he watched Jonghyun, knowing that he was probably struggling with something inside of himself. Taemin knew he should walk forward and intervene with a bright grin, the way he would have done normally, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to work up the nerve. "I just... I like someone. I think. But they have no idea."

Gyuri laughed, shaking her head from side to side as she handed Jonghyun the key to one of the booths. "It's amazing how far you've fallen, Jonghyun. When you got here, you were that new kid that everyone wanted a piece of. And now a one-sided love?"

"I know," Jonghyun grumbled, probably glaring a little at her before grabbing the key and turning around with a sigh, his eyes locked firmly on the ground.

Taemin shifted around nervously, his eyes darting around the room as he wondered for a brief moment if he should just try and high-tail it back to the area where Key and Minho were waiting before Jonghyun noticed him standing there. He frowned, taking one step back the exact second Jonghyun looked up, his heart seeming to freeze instantly. Both of them stared at each other with wide eyes and bated breaths for a long moment, until Key burst in the room and yelled, making them both jump.

"Yah, stop staring at each other like long lost lovers and let's get this shit over with. I gotta be home before my parents wake up."

Taemin blinked, noticing Jonghyun nod shakily out of the corner of his eye as he ignored the questioning look Minho gave him. 

"That's to room 107," Gyuri sing-songed, pointing in the direction of the regular booths. Jonghyun sighed and nodded before heading down the hallway, Taemin following closely behind him.

When they entered the room, it was... lackluster, to put it nicely. There wasn't a disco ball shining from the ceiling, there wasn't a huge TV, and instead of many couches surrounding an antique looking table, there was a regular picnic table surrounded by metal benches.

Jonghyun grumbled something under his breath as he picked up a mic with his fingertips, as if he thought it would be diseased or something. Taemin couldn't really blame him as he took a closer look at the mic in his hand, seeing faint traces of saliva or something on the metal. He grabbed a tissue from the corner of the room and wiped it off vigorously, not wanting to know exactly how drunk the person before him had been to be slobbering on the mic that badly.

"This room is absolute shit," Key remarked as he sat down on one of the benches and threw his leg over his knee with his arms crossed and an indignant expression lining his features.

"I know," Jonghyun sighed as he flicked through the song options, grumbling about the lack of selection and about how singing upbeat, high-pitched girl group songs wouldn't help them in the least. 

"Then why the fuck didn't you get the VIP room?" Key asked, bending down to examine the bottom of the table, making a face as he saw what Taemin assumed was gum or something equally disgusting.

"Gyuri is a bit passive-aggressive. She only gives the VIP room to people who are willing to give her what she wants, regardless of whether or not they can pay the money."

"And to think you used to go out with her," Key grumbled, giving up on inspecting the room and instead just flopping back on the bench, not caring if he was taking up everyone else's spots or not.

"Shut up," Jonghyun groaned, grabbing the tissue box and aiming it directly at Key's head. Taemin blinked, watching as Jonghyun stopped mid-throw and set the tissue box down on the table with a sigh. Key smirked, and Taemin blinked again, looking back and forth between the two of them with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open a little.

"How did you do that?" Taemin asked, his voice a little breathless with surprise. For someone to be able to stop Jonghyun from throwing something at them was a great feat, and Key hadn't so much as glared.

Key turned to Taemin, grinning at him and opening his mouth to speak when Jonghyun interrupted, coughing obnoxiously and throwing the tissue box at Taemin instead, hitting him on the arm.

"Don't start, Key. He likes when I throw things at him," Jonghyun said, a proud grin lining every inch of his face, making Taemin pout and throw the tissue box back at him, hitting him square in the face.

"Only because I get to throw it back," Taemin sing-songed, giggling as Key looked back and forth between them with a smirk. 

"I think we should start practicing," Minho mumbled from the back of the room, making everyone jump and turn to stare at him as if they'd forgotten he was even there. Minho blinked, taking in all their expressions before pouting. Taemin tilted his head to the side, frowning as he tried to understand why the pout looked so awkward before giggling as he realized that it was because Minho was just not made for pouting.

Eventually they started practicing, after wiping all the mics and finding some halfway decent songs to sing. For the most part, Taemin stood in the background and listened to their voices, finding the way they all melted together absolutely addicting. Minho's deep voice combined with Key's sharp pitch and Jonghyun's soulful voice was so unusual, but at the same time sounded so perfectly natural that he couldn't help but close his eyes and let the sound wash over him, wanting to just sit there and listen to them forever.

"Taemin, come take my spot," Minho said, stepping away from the others and handing the mic over to Taemin.

"But-"

"Come on, kid. One song's not gonna kill you," Key grinned, chuckling under his breath as he sent Taemin a wink.

Taemin blinked, his cheeks flushing as he glanced between Minho and Key for a moment before finally letting his eyes rest on Jonghyun, who wasn't even looking at him. Taemin pouted unknowingly, until he saw Jonghyun's hand down by his side, reaching back as if beckoning him forward. Taemin pulled his lower lip into his mouth before grinning, standing up and taking Minho's mic, his heart pounding as he glanced around the room; from the reassuring smile on Minho's face, to the coy smirk playing along Key's lips, and finally to that hand reaching for him, telling him that he could join them, that he was wanted. Taemin felt the grin spreading across his face as he realized that although he hadn't been looking for anything, he suddenly felt like he'd found exactly what he'd been searching for all along.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jonghyun blinked at him, looking down to where Taemin's eyes were located, a frustrated cry escaping his lips as he threw the pillow at Taemin's face."

"JERONAVOOOOO!" 

Taemin blinked, raising his eyebrow at Jonghyun who had just jumped onto the basement couch as if he were diving into a pool with a silly grin on his face.

"What the hell?"

"What, am I not allowed to love this couch anymore?" Jonghyun asked defensively, glaring at Taemin and pulling one of the pillows to his chest as if he were protecting it. Taemin blinked, staring at Jonghyun for a long moment before sighing and going back to the computer, wanting to check up a bit on his new school online. They would be going back to school in a week, and he didn't even know what it looked like yet. He sat down and clicked on a few things until he found his school, looking through the records and the teachers to try and get a feel for what kind of place it was. The teachers all looked nice enough, but there was no real way to tell without seeing everything in person.

"Yah, would you stop that and come here?" Jonghyun asked, a slight whine to his voice. Taemin turned to look at Jonghyun curiously, his eyebrow quirking up at the way Jonghyun shifted almost nervously. 

"You're kind of taking up the entire couch," Taemin said calmly, biting back the height joke that popped into his head as he noticed that the last cushion, where Jonghyun's feet were located, had quite a bit of room left on it. Jonghyun blinked at him, looking down to where Taemin's eyes were located, a frustrated cry escaping his lips as he threw the pillow at Taemin's face. 

"You're a cruel human being, Lee Taemin."

"What did I do!?" Taemin yelled, his mouth gaping open in shock. Jonghyun just cackled, a grin playing along his lips which were soon completely covered as Taemin threw the pillow right back at him.

"Stop thaaaaaat," Jonghyun whined, pouting at Taemin in a way that was obviously supposed to be cute, but just wound up looking kind of stupid. "Just come here already, would you?"

"Fine, fine," Taemin mumbled, sighing as he walked over to the couch, planting his ass directly on Jonghyun's feet. 

"Sadist," Jonghyun grumbled, pulling his feet out from under Taemin's ass and sitting up until he was leaning against the arm of the couch. Taemin blinked, raising his eyebrows expectantly, finding the way Jonghyun shifted around nervously kind of interesting. He'd been doing that a lot recently; telling Taemin to do something and then getting all fidgety and weird. Taemin was starting to wonder if maybe he'd killed someone or knocked someone up, or had done something equally appalling.

"Um, you know how.... you met Key last week?" Jonghyun asked quietly, his head ducked low with his eyes peeking out under his bangs. Taemin nodded his head slowly, now thoroughly confused. Did Key help him murder the person, or was Key perhaps the one impregnated? "Um... do you remember what he was shouting about?"

"Which time?" Taemin asked, raising his eyebrow as he thought back to the night at karaoke. Key had done a lot of shouting and bitching over the course of two hours; in fact, Taemin was pretty sure it had to be a record for anyone to yell that much in that short of a period of time without any alcohol in their system.

"Um, the beginning," Jonghyun mumbled, shifting nervously again. "Where he was talking about... um... how I..."

"Like someone?" Taemin asked, blinking in surprise as Jonghyun nodded.

"I think... you should know. Who it is, I mean," Jonghyun whispered, peeking his eyes out at Taemin almost shyly. Taemin blinked as he took a few seconds to process Jonghyun's words, his brain very nearly shutting down from surprise. Why did he want to tell him; what did it matter if he knew? Maybe Jonghyun was just looking for someone to talk to about it, to give him advice? But that couldn't be it, since Jonghyun had clearly seen how much of a loner he'd been back in Seoul; what the hell did he know about relationships? Or maybe... it was someone they both knew, and he wanted Taemin to help him out.

Taemin gulped, his eyes wide and unblinking as he forced his head to nod slowly. A million people flashed through his mind; Gyuri, Key, Minho, Taemin's brother, Joon, and every person they'd somehow run into since arriving in Incheon. He halfway considered including himself in that list, but quickly discarded the though as absolutely ridiculous and not worth ever thinking about again.

"Um, it's," Jonghyun started, pausing as he bit hard on his lower lips. Taemin shifted almost nervously as he tried not to let himself get distracted, wondering in the back of his mind how Jonghyun's lip wasn't bleeding yet. He chewed on the inside of his own lip as he watched Jonghyun blink nervously at him, knowing very well that his expression was probably somewhat apprehensive, at the very least. Jonghyun opened his mouth as if to start speaking, his eyes darting to the space behind Taemin and widening in shock. 

"Ghost!" Jonghyun screamed before high-tailing it out of the basement, leaving Taemin sitting there blinking, confusion written clearly across his face. He shifted, glancing at the space Jonghyun had pointed toward, frowning as he saw nothing there. Not that ghosts were supposed to be visible anyway.

*********

"I don't know how our parents expect us to buy a weeks worth of groceries with only this much," Jonghyun mumbled grumpily as he flipped through the cash his parents had given them before sending them off to the supermarket for groceries. "I mean, there's 8 people!"

"That's what the coupons are for," Taemin sighed, shaking his head at Jonghyun before grabbing the cash away from him and stuffing it into his pocket so people wouldn't try to steal it. 

"But coupons are for, like, mothers. And old people," Jonghyun said, wrinkling his nose with disgust as he grabbed a box of cereal near the door and threw it into the shopping cart. Taemin glanced down at the box and checked the price before sighing and putting the cereal back on the shelf, now realizing why their parents had given Jonghyun cash instead of a card; he'd buy anything that appealed to him if left to his own devices, regardless of the price.

"Hey, I wanted that," Jonghyun whined, grabbing the cereal off the shelf and putting it back in the cart. Taemin grabbed the box and smacked Jonghyun upside the head with it before putting it back on the shelf.

"We already have cereal, and it's too expensive."

"But it's really good cereal!" Jonghyun protested, reaching for the box again. Taemin groaned, smacking Jonghyun's hand away and glaring at him before pushing the cart further into the store, wondering how exactly he was going to make it out of here alive.

They wandered through the store, stopping every 30 seconds or so to debate whether or not the items Jonghyun wanted were worth buying ("But we only have two bottles of soy sauce left!") though they usually went with Taemin's decision, which was to get what they needed before looking for things they wanted. It was simple to him, get what you need and get out, but Jonghyun just couldn't stop grabbing things like a kid caught in a store full of candy-coated transformers figurines. 

"Oranges!" Jonghyun shouted with excitement, bouncing once before darting off to the table of oranges, already putting some in a bag. Taemin groaned, shoving Jonghyun to the side and dumping the oranges back onto the table, pointing his index finger right at Jonghyun's face, making the older man 'eep'.

"Oranges, we can get. But first, look at the price," Taemin said, pointing at the price and quickly calculating in his head how much they could get. "Alright, since only three people in our house eat oranges, we don't need them for everyone. I'd say six is good?"

"But--"

"You'll get two, Jonghyun. More than that if my brother doesn't want any, or if your mother doesn't want them," Taemin said smartly before reaching on the table and grabbing a few that looked almost ripe, as well as a few that looked like they would be edible by tomorrow. He handed the bag to Jonghyun who squealed happily and nearly ran over to the cart to put the bag of oranges delicately next to the carton of eggs. Taemin grinned, shaking his head as he wondered the last time he'd seen anyone get so excited about something as simple as oranges, darting his eyes around the store to plan what they should get next.

"Jonghyun-ssi!"

Taemin blinked, looking back over to where Jonghyun was standing, tilting his head to the side when he saw the woman standing there talking to him with a smile. She was tall and pretty, Taemin noted, his lips pursing a little as he noticed the way her eyelashes fluttered at Jonghyun like an excited, love-struck school girl. He glanced over at Jonghyun, his eyes instantly darting back down at the table of oranges as he tried not to notice the way Jonghyun's cheeks were suddenly flushed and how his eyes were looking at everything but her as if he were nervous just being in her presence. Taemin frowned, rolling one orange back and forth on the table between his hands, trying to distract himself and ignore the way his stomach bubbled with what he knew was probably jealousy. 

"See you later!" Taemin heard Jonghyun yell, the girl laughing as the sound of heels walked in what was probably the opposite direction. Taemin sighed, nearly jumping out of his skin when Jonghyun grabbed him around the shoulders. He squeaked, turning to stare at Jonghyun's grinning face for a short moment before kicking him away, though his kick was probably harder than it needed to be. He knew Jonghyun would take his sudden anger as revenge for scaring him, or leaving him to talk to the girl, instead of what it really was, and for that he was grateful. He never thought the day would come where even his thoughts were grateful that Jonghyun was a bit of an idiot when it came to reading other peoples' emotions.

"That was Sooyoung," Jonghyun grinned, following behind Taemin like a puppy, too busy bouncing and talking to grab everything he saw on the shelves, which Taemin wasn't sure if he was thankful for or not. "She's this girl I met at the park when I first moved here. She's really nice and fun to be around, I think you'd like her."

"Like you do?" Taemin asked, turning to Jonghyun with a blank expression. Jonghyun blinked at him as if he didn't quite get what Taemin was saying, his head tilted slightly to the side like a puppy wondering if that last piece of food on the plate was for them. Taemin sighed, shaking his head as he moved further down the aisle. "That girl, Sooyoung. Is she the one you said you like?"

Taemin could practically hear Jonghyun freeze in surprise, turning around to see that the older man was simply standing in the aisle with wide eyes, as if he hadn't expected that kind of question. Taemin tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing in on Jonghyun with curiosity and concealed envy, wondering if Jonghyun was so shocked because he'd forgotten about the entire conversation, or if it was because he'd been right. 

Jonghyun opened his mouth as if to answer, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. Taemin recognized that as one of Jonghyun's nervous reactions, finding himself completely unsurprised when Jonghyun grabbed a bag of chips off the shelf and grinned at Taemin, his eyes twitching a little with nerves.

"Can we get this?"

"No," Taemin replied simply, gesturing for Jonghyun to put the bag back on the shelf before sighing and turning around to continue shopping. He knew that Jonghyun didn't want to tell him, and even though he could come up with a million excuses for that, he couldn't help but feel a slow ache rise in his chest. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know who Jonghyun liked anymore, because maybe if Jonghyun kept it inside long enough, he wouldn't be able to tell whoever it was that he had his eyes set on. Maybe, if he never told that person how he felt, he'd just continue with life as it was without changing anything. Maybe, just maybe, if he never said anything at all, Taemin wouldn't have to be left behind.

*********

_You were my sunrays, without you girl there was no days. Never dreamt to speak the phrase, but what the fuck just happened? You were the heart, I owned the beat just like a metronome. Can't breathe, my heart is gone. Now what the fuck just happened? What just happened girl?_

Taemin sighed, his thumb twirling lightly over the circle on his iPod as he searched through the list of artists, trying to find ones whose names he needed to edit later. He frowned as he came across two 'Usher' entries, going to his iTunes and deleting the extra space in the last three songs before going to search for more. He paused, his eyes shifting over to Jonghyun in the same way they had been every 5 minutes or so for the last hour. Jonghyun was laying on the couch again, his eyes cast at the ceiling with a calm expression lining his features as he mouthed the words to the song, though Taemin knew his English would probably wind up sounding incredibly awkward if it was sung out loud.

Over the last hour, Taemin had noticed Jonghyun's expression change almost every time he'd looked over at him. He'd started off content after eating a good dinner, but ten minutes later, he'd been frowning, as if he was thinking of something he couldn't quite figure out. Taemin had watched him, had seen the way he seemed to go from confused to curious, from curious to pondering, from pondering to hopeful. At the moment, he seemed almost blissfully lost in his own fantasies, as if whatever scenario he'd been imagining had worked out exactly how he wanted it to. Taemin knew he shouldn't assume things, that he shouldn't get jealous over things he didn't know for sure, but there was that bubbling again, rising in his stomach.

"Did you enjoy meeting Sooyoung that much?" He asked before he had a chance to filter his words, ducking his head in embarrassment.

"Eh?" Jonghyun asked. Taemin pursed his lips, looking over at Jonghyun with his eyes slightly narrowed, ignoring the way Jonghyun blinked at him innocently, as if he didn't have the faintest idea what was going on.

"You have this sickening dreamy look on your face, so I figured it was because of Sooyoung," Taemin mumbled quietly, knowing that Jonghyun would be able to hear him even over the music. He had a way of separating sounds so that even with music playing loudly in the room, he could hear the person speaking with ease. It was one of his gifts.

"Sooyoung? Why'd you think of her?" Jonghyun asked, looking to be somewhere between embarrassed and curious. Taemin sighed, waving his arm in the air exaggeratedly, hoping Jonghyun would get the message. If his expression was any indication, he didn't.

"I figured, since you like her, she would be--"

"Wait, what?" Jonghyun asked, blinking at Taemin with wide eyes. Taemin frowned, his jaw tensing just slightly as he waited for Jonghyun to reveal what he knew. Jonghyun sighed, turning his face back to the ceiling with a pout on his lips, his eyebrows wrinkled together with thought.

"It's.... not her that I like," Jonghyun muttered, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair as if he were aggravated at something.

"Then who is it?" Taemin asked, his eyes narrowing just slightly as he tried to tear them away from Jonghyun, his frown deepening as he realized he was unable to do so. 

"You don't need to know," Jonghyun muttered, shifting his eyes over to Taemin again.

Taemin pursed his lips as he forced his eyes away from Jonghyun, looking back at his iPod as he idly went through the list of artists again. His thumb moved around the pad quickly, back and forth, right and left, over and over again until his unfocused eyes came across an entry he'd nearly forgotten about labeled "Jonghyun." When they'd first moved into this house all those months ago, he'd secretly recorded Jonghyun singing with the computer and hid the mp3 in the music folder, never planning on showing it to anyone. He frowned, clicking on it and watching as _Juliette_ started playing, and though there was no sound, he could hear the sound of Jonghyun singing clearly, the crisp and raspy sound resonating through his mind.

"Yes, I do," Taemin whispered, looking up at Jonghyun with narrowed eyes, a strange feeling he didn't quite recognize bubbling up in his chest. "I need to know who you like."

"Wh--" Jonghyun started, but Taemin cut him off quickly, ducking his head to stare at the floor, his hand that wasn't holding the iPod closed in a tight fist.

"I need to know who you like, Jonghyun. I need to know, because you're not the kind of person who can keep something like that hidden forever. When you finally tell whoever it is that you like them, and when you start going out with them, I'm going to be the one who's left behind," He paused as the realization of his own words, of his own fears, hit him hard, his breath catching in his throat. "We've been practically attached to the hip ever since we moved into this house, Jonghyun, and I'm going to have to get used to not being around you. I mean, if it's Gyuri that you like, I won't ever be able to be around you, because she'll be taking up all your spare time," Taemin whispered, pausing and biting on his lower lip as he felt the bubbling feeling in his chest rise further up. "If the person you like... if it's someone we both know, someone who we both hang out with, like Joon or Key, I'm going to have to teach myself how to pretend I don't give a shit and I'm going to have to learn how to be around you without actually being with you. I'm going to have to teach myself how to be near you again, how to not care, especially if it's Joon or Key or... Minho..."

Taemin froze, his eyes staring fixedly at the wall in front of him as he felt his stomach plummet to the floor, his words stopping almost automatically. Shit, it was Minho. That explained everything; why Jonghyun got mad at him after he'd kissed Minho, why Jonghyun had left them alone at the amusement park, why he'd made all those assumptions about them dating and got so damn upset. It was because it was Minho, because he'd liked Minho all along. 

Was it always this hard to breathe?

"Taemin," Jonghyun whispered from the couch, his voice low and uncertain. Taemin felt his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he looked up, though he had no recollection of how or when he'd bitten down. "Do you really want to know?"

Taemin paused, his chest tightening as he came to the realization that he really didn't want to know. He didn't want to stop being friends with Minho, he loved him too much as a friend, but he knew that the second Jonghyun revealed who he liked, he'd never be able to smile at Minho and really mean it again. He didn't want to know, but something in his chest screamed at him, telling him that he needed to know. He felt himself nod unconsciously, his stomach clenching with anxiety as he saw Jonghyun open his mouth to speak in slow motion, feeling time freeze for just that short moment that felt like an eternity.

"You."

Taemin blinked, tilting his head to the side.

"Eh?"

"It's you," Jonghyun muttered, sighing and running a hand through his hair, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. "I wanted to tell you later, in my own way, after I was sure you liked me back. But then you're always so friendly around Minho, and you smile at him so easily and... I thought, maybe you didn't like me. Maybe to you I was only, I don't know, a brother figure or something. But I wanted to try and woo you, maybe cook you dinner and make you an extra special coffee blend or something before telling you. I know I should have said it soo--"

"Wait," Taemin said, blinking at Jonghyun with wide eyes. "You mean, the one you like isn't Minho?"

"Why would I like Minho?" Jonghyun asked, raising his eyebrow at Taemin as if he'd lost his damn mind.

"Because... when I kissed him, you got all pissed off. And then when we were all at the amusement park, you left us like you couldn't stand seeing us together. And even Key said that you got all weird and jealous when you thought--"

"Taemin, think about it," Jonghyun said, smiling a little and tilting his head to the side. "Who was with Minho in all those situations?"

Taemin blinked, pondering that question for a long moment, his mind reeling from the shock of all this new information. He tilted his head to the side, thinking back until he realized that it had always been... "Me."

"Exactly."

"But. Me. You can't. I mean. What," Taemin stuttered, his eyes going wide as he stared at Jonghyun, completely baffled.

"Taemin. I like you. Not Minho, not Key. Not Joon, or Sooyoung, or Gyuri. I like you, now will you please not make me repeat it again? I don't want to sound like a broken record."

Taemin blinked, feeling everything go still and quiet as he processed the new information slowly. He let it sink into his mind, let his heart fill with that knowledge, let his soul lift as he realized, finally, that it was him. Not Minho, not Key. Not Joon, or Sooyoung, or Gyuri. Him. 

He grinned, putting his iPod down on the table quietly as he watched Jonghyun, who was again laying on the couch, his arm draped over his face as if trying to hide his embarrassment. Taemin smirked, standing up slowly and waiting to see if Jonghyun had heard him moving; he hadn't.

"Joooonnnngggghhyyyuuuunnnn!!" Taemin shouted as he ran across the room, tackling Jonghyun where he lay on the couch.

Jonghyun screamed with fear as Taemin pounced, his voice rising to a higher pitch as he screamed something about how it fucking hurt, but Taemin didn't care. He grinned, wrapping his arms awkwardly around Jonghyun's shoulders and pinning him to the couch in a hug, his mind no longer really processing what he was doing or how childish it probably seemed.

"What was that for?!" Jonghyun screeched, clearly not realizing yet that this was a good thing. "If you don't like me liking you then just fucking say so! There's no need to tackle me and injure me for it! And you're the one who asked me anyway, and I was just being honest and--- OW GODDAMNIT!"

Taemin giggled as he smacked Jonghyun upside the head, his eyes nearly invisible from the wide grin that was spread across his face. Jonghyun opened his mouth to protest, probably to ask if he enjoyed hurting him that much, but Taemin placed a single finger over Jonghyun's lips, his smile dimming until everything went still and quiet, and all that mattered was them. Words no longer existed, pain no longer existed, and the only thing that remained was the beating of their hearts as Taemin leaned down, ghosting his lips just over Jonghyun's. He took in Jonghyun's wide eyes and the flash of recognition that passed behind them before shutting his own and pressing his lips down harder, the words "Me, too" hanging quietly in the air around them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was somewhat comforting, knowing that they weren't too far away, but at the same time he kind of wished they were. It was harder knowing that they were so close but also so far away."

"Hurry, the bell's going to ring!"

Taemin blinked, looking up from his book to watch the two girls squeal and run to the opposite end of hall until they disappeared through a door leading to the staircase. He glanced around the nearly empty hallway, sighing to himself as he shut his book and stuffed it in his backpack, standing and walking toward his classroom which was only a few steps away.

He was officially back in school, and he really wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Actually, he was pretty sure that he hated it. Sure, he actually kind of enjoyed learning and being around so many people, but without Jonghyun, it just wasn't the same. He felt as if he were missing an arm or something; he hadn't gone a day without Jonghyun in months. It would have probably been more tolerable if he'd had at least one friend here with him in the middle school, but everyone he knew was already across the street in the high school. It was somewhat comforting, knowing that they weren't too far away, but at the same time he kind of wished they were. It was harder knowing that they were so close but also so far away.

The bell rang just as he stepped through the doorway, smiling sheepishly when their teacher glanced at him with a sharp look. He ducked his head and headed toward his seat, peeking through his bangs to glance around at his classmates, none of whom waved at him or even so much as smiled. There was one girl who gaped at him like a love-struck fangirl for a short moment before turning back around, but other than that, it was as if he didn't even exist. It made sense, he supposed, considering they had all known each other for years, through the first two years of middle school and probably earlier, and he was just a transfer student. Still, he was reminded of his days back in Seoul when he had no friends to speak of, when he was just that weird kid who always sat on the bus and listened to his iPod. He hadn't been alone in far too long, and while he would have enjoyed it before, he was starting to kind of hate it now.

It surprised him when he thought about it, realizing how much different his life was now, how different _he_ was, especially compared to the way he'd been back in Seoul. It wasn't just the fact that he now actually understood what emotions really felt like, or that he could smile and really mean it. It wasn't just the fact that he had friends now, it was that he actually _cared_ if he had them. He loved his friends; Minho, Key, and even Joon sometimes. They all meant so much to him, in ways that he hadn't really ever felt before, especially Jonghyun.

Taemin bit softly on his lower lip to keep the smile from spreading across his lips at the mere thought of Jonghyun. He tried to think back to how he'd been in Seoul, how he'd been before he even knew Jonghyun existed, but for some reason, he couldn't. It was as if every memory he had from before he'd heard the soulful voice singing a love song to Juliette had disappeared, and to be honest, he wasn't sure if he minded. If he'd never heard Jonghyun trying to serenade Juliette, if he'd never laid eyes on that sharp jawline, the full lips, or the eyes that expressed every little thought and emotion, he would still be empty. 

Taemin smiled to himself as he opened his notebook and prepared himself for class, making a mental note to thank Jonghyun for everything later.

*********

The first thing Taemin realized was just how bright it was outside. He was standing in front of the karaoke place, leaning on the cool brick building with his shoulder, his head ducked to keep his eyes away from the sun. He squinted as he checked his phone again, frowning as he saw that there was no new text message yet. Where were they?

"Hey," Jonghyun murmured as he snuck up from behind. Taemin jumped in surprise, a small, automatic squeak escaping his lips, which only made Jonghyun laugh quietly. 

Taemin blinked, looking down at the arms that had easily wrapped themselves around his shoulders, a faint blush rising on his cheeks as he turned around to look at Jonghyun. They merely watched each other with bated breaths for a long moment until Jonghyun grinned, his eyes crinkling at the sides. Taemin blinked and felt the blush darken on his cheeks, his heart fluttering like crazy as he tried his hardest to not look away in embarrassment. Jonghyun chuckled, his voice low and deep, and Taemin all of a sudden felt himself falling. Not literally, of course, but he had a feeling in his stomach that reminded him faintly of the feeling he'd gotten when the roller coaster had dropped him to the ground suddenly; all kinds of excited and scared and happy rolled into one big bubble. He nibbled on his lower lip, debating whether or not he should close the slight distance between them, when he heard something shrill ringing from behind.

"Guys!" Key shouted as he ran toward them as fast as he could. Taemin frowned, turning back around so that he could see Key running toward them, raising an eyebrow at how utterly frazzled and serious the other man looked.

"What are you running for?" Jonghyun asked, his arms still wrapped around Taemin's shoulders. "Isn't it against your religion or something?"

"Actually it is," Key said, grabbing a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the thin layer of sweat off his face, wincing in disgust. "Normally I wouldn't do something so vile as run around town, especially in this heat, but this is fucking important and Minho is too damn tall and EW there's so much sweat!"

Taemin blinked, tilting his head to the side and ignoring the way his neck brushed lightly against Jonghyun's arm. "What does Minho's height have to do with you running?"

"_Obviously_, I had to get here before him," Key replied, frowning as he eyed the handkerchief before throwing it into the nearest trash can, clearly not wanting to ever be reminded of having to run again. "I had to warn you guys, but Minho's been really fucking weird the last two days. I mean, I know he's always weird, but he's like... epically weird or something, like he's not even Minho. I mean, same voice, same body, but he acts like he doesn't know a goddamn thing I talk about, and he keeps asking about that sunbae, Lee Jinki or whatever, the one that graduated two years ago? And he keeps staring at the street signs like he's not sure of where the fuck he is, and he doesn't even _talk_ anymore except to ask questions about Lee Jinki! And--"

"Minho has never talked much," Taemin said, raising an eyebrow as he watched Key in the same way that someone would watch a caged animal; like something to be considered seriously only when it was about to bite your head off.

Taemin blinked, wiping the slightly amused expression off his face when Key glared at him, knowing very well that this animal was close enough that it _could_ bite his head off. Key's glare turned into a slightly shocked blink as he noticed the way Taemin and Jonghyun were standing, making Taemin duck his head slightly in embarrassment, knowing very well that any second now, Key would start making some kind of expression or crude gesture that he really didn't want to see.

"Heeeee~"

Taemin blinked, turning around to look at Jonghyun with a raised eyebrow. He'd never heard Jonghyun make that sound before; it sounded kind of like an extremely pleased donkey, not that he'd ever heard an extremely pleased donkey before. Jonghyun just grinned at him; Taemin rolled his eyes and elbowed him lightly in the stomach. 

"So, what are we doing today, anyway?" Key asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously trying to divert his eyes away from the sight in front of him.

"I want you to try one of the lines," Jonghyun said automatically. Taemin watched as Key rolled his eyes, as if he were tired of hearing about the song already, a groan just barely escaping his lips. "I was thinking it over last night, and I don't think it works that well with a melody."

"You mean it just doesn't work well with your voice," Key smirked, waving his hand in the air dismissively. 

"Shut up, you know my voice is amazing."

"Yeah, but both of the Junsu's are a million times better than you are," Key grinned, squealing when Jonghyun ran forward and shoved him into the street. "Yah, what if I get hit by a car and die?!"

"What, you're that delicate?" Jonghyun smirked, sticking his tongue out at Key childishly and running away the second Key bent down to take his shoe off. Taemin blinked, watching as Key aimed his shoe directly at the back of Jonghyun's head, giggling when it landed. 

"Yah, what do you think you're laughing at?!" Jonghyun yelled as he changed direction, heading straight toward Taemin. Taemin squeaked and turned to run, but it was too late and Jonghyun leaped onto his back, nearly sending him falling to the ground. 

"Ahhhhhhh!" Taemin squealed, worming around as he tried to get Jonghyun off of his back, but the older man clung to his back for dear life, grabbing him around the shoulder and rubbing the palm of his hand in Taemin's hair cruelly.

"Haha, take that!" Jonghyun yelled, laughing as he attacked Taemin's hair in a noogie. Taemin whined, feeling his legs start to buckle under Jonghyun's weight.

"Um."

Taemin squealed as he fell to the side the second Jonghyun's weight was lifted off of him. He pouted, planting his ass on the cement and watching as Minho looked around the street with confusion, as if he were making sure he was at the right place. Taemin blinked, tilting his head to the side as he saw something different in Minho, something he couldn't quite place. He glanced over at Key just as Jonghyun did the same, frowning a little when Key just shrugged his shoulders. 

"Come here," Jonghyun muttered quietly, running up to Key and dragging him across the street, Key's protests easily heard even from a safe distance. Taemin blinked, looking over at Minho and smiling, tilting his head to the side again as Minho smiled back at him awkwardly. Something was definitely different.

Taemin sighed, standing up and wiping the dirt off of his pants, looking over at Jonghyun and Key again before walking toward Minho, trying not to be a little freaked out. He couldn't quite place his finger on what was different, there was just... something, in his eyes, or in the way he held himself, something that definitely wasn't the Minho he knew. 

"How have you been?"

Minho blinked, as if he were surprised to hear Taemin ask him a question, his eyes looking around again before shrugging. "I've been good... I think."

Taemin raised his eyebrow at that, looking over at Jonghyun and Key who were still whispering amongst themselves.

"Um.... can I ask you something?" Minho asked. Taemin almost felt like saying that he already had, but figured that now wasn't the time for snark and instead just nodded. "You... you know Lee Jinki, right?"

Taemin blinked, his eyebrows furrowing together as he watched Minho, resisting the urge to look over at Key again. He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders simply. "I don't know him."

"You don't?"

"No," Taemin replied simply. "I'm still in middle school. How am I supposed to know someone who graduated from your school two years ago?"

Taemin watched curiously as Minho seemed to freeze, his eyes a little bit narrowed as if trying to decide whether or not he was lying. Taemin sighed, shrugging his shoulders to himself and turning away, figuring that he should probably leave Minho to whatever issues he was dealing with. He glanced over at Jonghyun and Key, giving them both a look that clearly said to stop whispering amongst themselves and get their asses back the second they both turned around.

"Now, can we pleeease get to karaoke already, before they fill up all the boxes and we wind up having to use the one with the wonky mics?" Jonghyun whined, his eyes shifting around nervously as if he wasn't sure whether or not that was the right thing to say. Key shoved him to the side a little, probably for good measure; they both clearly weren't sure of what to do.

"Yah, stop your bitching. It's not like you'll give any of us a chance to sing."

"But what about Minho's rap? And how are you guys going to do the melody if the microphones make you sound like chipmunks? I can't sing seriously if there are chipmunks in the room!"

Taemin chuckled a little at this, trying as hard as he could not to make it sound forced. He glanced over at Minho, watching the way his eyes darted between the three of them and even the man across the street collecting his mail, as if he were just as scared of them as they were of whatever was going on.

"Sorry guys, I just remembered my brother asked me to help him out today. I can't go," Minho said suddenly before turning around and darting down the street at high speed, and Taemin briefly wondered when Minho had become such a good runner. He blinked at his retreating form, sharing a collective glance with Key and Jonghyun as they all looked around awkwardly, not entirely sure of what was going on anymore.

*********

It was finally, finally their day off from school. Taemin could honestly say that he'd never been so happy in his entire life to see Sunday come around, even if they were just going back to the karaoke place, like always.

Jonghyun hummed at his side as they walked toward the karaoke place, their hands just barely linked together, having somehow fallen into that pose but too awkward to really thread their fingers together properly. Taemin chewed lightly on his bottom lip, tapping the toe of his shoe on the pavement each time before he stepped down, trying to distract himself from the awkwardness of their hands and the urge to smack Jonghyun upside the head just to alleviate this weird tension.

Jonghyun halted in place beside him as the humming suddenly stopped. Taemin blinked, looking over at Jonghyun curiously before following his eyes, head tilting to the side as he saw the pair of guys hanging out in front of the karaoke place.

Minho was leaning cooly against the brick wall watching the man next to him. The man looked absolutely terrified, pushing the glasses up his nose and glancing around nervously, as if searching for the FBI or something. Minho said something with a smile, to which the other man flailed his arms around dramatically, the sound of him yelling "I can't do this!" reaching even Taemin's ears. The man turned around as if to leave, Minho's arm reaching out to grab him just as he went crashing into a pole. 

Taemin blinked as he watched Minho and the man, wondering exactly what was going on. He glanced to his side, seeing that Jonghyun was just as confused and bewildered at the new presence. They blinked at each other before shrugging and taking slow steps forward, unlinking their hands as if to keep from frightening the weird creature.

The man looked up suddenly, though how he could even think through the pain, Taemin had no idea, his eyes flying wide as he saw them and squeaked, running to hide behind Minho, which didn't really work since Minho was standing against a wall.

"Ah, guys!" Minho grinned, waving them over. Taemin blinked, trying not to look over at Jonghyun again, instead eyeing the weird man curiously. "This is my friend, Lee Jinki. I hope it's okay that I brought him along?"

"Hi! My name is nice to meet you," Jinki said, his face flushing a bright red as he smiled nervously. "I mean. Um. My name is Lee Jinki. It's nice to meet you," Jinki grinned, bowing at them. 

Taemin blinked, wondering how Jinki's glasses didn't fall to the ground as he flailed his arms, clearly having bowed too low. Minho chuckled under his breath, grabbing Jinki's arm and helping to pull him upright, the other man blushing furiously. Taemin blinked as he turned his eyes to Minho, his head tilting to the side as he recognized the look in his eyes, realizing somewhere in the back of his mind that this man must have been the person Minho had been waiting for all along.

"Um, it's fine I gue--"

"Yah, I told you not to buy that scarf!" Key shouted as he turned the corner, one hand on his phone and the other flying around with repressed frustration. "I told you it would fall apart the second it got wet!"

Taemin blinked, shifting his eyes from Key to Jinki, giggling at the absolutely terrified look on Jinki's face. He grinned as Key snapped his phone shut and turned his eyes to them, knowing that this was going to be a very interesting day.

*********

Jinki was actually a pretty good singer, Taemin noted as he watched him and Jonghyun discuss something at the opposite end of the room in hushed whispers.

Taemin sighed, leaning back into the plush couch with a small smile, loving the way it felt to sit on something soft for a change, instead of those hard benches they usually had to sit on. Ever since Jinki had arrived, they'd started booking the V.I.P. room instead, because Jinki was apparently kind of rich, and Nicole (who'd replaced Gyuri not long ago) always gave Key the family discount, which was easily affordable when split between five people. Well, four people, since Jonghyun never let him pay for himself, for some reason he didn't fully understand.

"Why are you giving me this line?" Jinki asked, a slight whine to his voice.

"Because, all girls want to hear that line in a smooth voice like yours. Key's is too sharp, and mine is too rough."

"Bullshit," Taemin sing-songed, sitting up slowly and grinning when Jonghyun turned to look at him. "Just admit it, your voice always shakes when you try to hit those notes."

"What was that?" Jonghyun asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You heard me," Taemin smirked, waving his hand in the air dismissively, laughing to himself as he heard Key remark about how he'd taught him to wave his hand like that like a proud mother. 

"You're going down," Jonghyun growled, leaping forward and tackling Taemin back onto the couch, both of them squealing as the couch nearly fell over. Taemin blinked, glancing up at Jonghyun and laughing at the stupid look on the older man's face, ducking his head and squealing as Jonghyun attacked, his hands hitting him on either side of his head.

"I swear, their PDA is more like domestic abuse," Key grumbled. Taemin peeked his head out around Jonghyun's arm, watching as Key left and Minho and Jinki shared a look. He grinned at them and was about to call for help, but before he had the chance, Jonghyun made a weird groaning noise and they fled the room, claiming that they needed to get more waters.

"Did we run out of water?" Jonghyun asked, blinking innocently at Taemin as he rubbed his back, which was probably sore from when Taemin had kicked it earlier that morning. Taemin rolled his eyes, shoving Jonghyun off of him until he landed on the floor with a screech.

"That huuuuuuuurt!" Jonghyun whined, pouting like a child. Taemin blinked at him for a long moment, noting that Jonghyun's pout had become much more believable recently, giggling to himself as he leaned forward and patted Jonghyun on the head.

"Aww, poor baby. Where does it hurt?" Taemin asked, a mocking pout on his lips. Jonghyun glared at him for a split second before turning the pout back on full force.

"Everywhere~ OUCH!" Jonghyun whined, holding the back of his head where Taemin had just slapped him. Taemin giggled, leaning forward and kissing Jonghyun where he'd just slapped him, a grin spreading across his lips as he saw the baffled look on Jonghyun's face.

Taemin watched as Jonghyun blinked up at him innocently for a second before a more mischievous expression took over. Taemin bit back a small cackle when Jonghyun pressed a hand against his forehead, as if to convey that that hurt as well. Taemin rolled his eyes, leaning forward to kiss Jonghyun on the forehead, giggling a little when Jonghyun whined about his cheek.

"I don't know how your cheek could hurt," Taemin mumbled, but kissed him there anyway with a small smile. Jonghyun pressed his hand against his jaw and whined like a puppy, grinning when Taemin kissed him there as well. Taemin watched him quietly, knowing very well where this was going, smiling just slightly when Jonghyun pressed a finger to his lips. 

Taemin felt the smile slowly fall off his lips as he watched Jonghyun for a long moment, his breath hitching in his throat as he saw the serious expression laced in Jonghyun's eyes like clear glass. He nibbled just slightly on his lower lip before nodding his head quietly, more to himself than anything, and leaned forward to close the distance.

He felt his heart ring in his ears as he pressed his lips against Jonghyun's, all kinds of awkward and shy and unsure at first. But then Jonghyun pressed harder, and suddenly the room was spinning and it was hard to breathe as he felt himself pressing closer, closer, his lips wrapping around Jonghyun's lower lip and sucking lightly, following his instinct to nibble slightly on the tender flesh, to bring his hands up and slowly work them through Jonghyun's hair, to press himself closer when Jonghyun made a small mewling sound. He smiled softly to himself as he shifted to the edge of the couch until he was pressed against Jonghyun as much as he could be, whining quietly when Jonghyun's hands found their way to his hips, a strange tingle running along his spine as he sucked harder on Jonghyun's lip, his breath rising and increasing with desperation as all thoughts disappeared from the haze that was blocking everything except how damn good Jonghyun was at kissing.

"OH MY GOD, IT BURNS!"

Taemin leaned back slowly, breathlessly gazing over at the doorway for a long moment before he even registered Key standing there. He blinked, smiling languidly and grabbing a pillow from the couch, tossing it at Key as well as he could, considering his arms were still a little shaky. Key blinked and turned until his body was directly facing him, his eyes narrowing in a tight glare, and suddenly Taemin was very, very aware of what was going on, and also very frightened of the man standing in front of him.

"That's it, you're no longer my son. I'm disowning you, Taemin!" Key shouted, flailing his arms around, nearly hitting poor Jinki on the head. Jinki squealed, taking a few steps away from Key, yelping loudly as he tripped over the pillow, falling right into Minho's arms.

"Why is there a pillow in the hallway!?" He yelled, his voice so high pitched that it sounded more like a squeal, Minho's deep chuckle sounding from behind him. Jonghyun groaned, slamming his face against the plush couch.

Taemin blinked, looking around at all of them, a smile slowly working it's way on his lips as he watched all of them with curious eyes, realizing how much he loved all of them in their own way. Key and his over-protective, dramatic ways. Minho and his quiet snark, and even Jinki, who he'd only met a few weeks ago. He loved each of them, for completely different reasons, but that didn't matter when it came to friendships. He knew that these people would be there for him no matter what, even if Key protested and Minho barely spoke enough to acknowledge it, and Jinki wound up making things worse by accident. They were still his friends, and he loved them just as much as he knew they loved him.

"Why did they have to come back?" Jonghyun whined, his voice muffled by the couch even as Key threw the pillow at the back of his head. Taemin giggled, reaching over and running his hands lightly through Jonghyun's hair, hearing the way he mewled just low enough so that only he could hear. 

Taemin smiled as he merely looked around, taking in every harsh shriek from Key, every whine from Jinki, and every chuckle from Minho. He watched them all, never letting go of Jonghyun's soft strands of hair, and realized that every puzzle piece had finally been put where they belonged, that every linear line in the equation had finally run into each other, and that from here on, things could only get better.


End file.
